MPRESSIYE 

HUMPHREY 





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Book >H ^ 



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CDPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



IMPRESSIVE 
TALKS 

«A./ By 
J7M. HUMPHREY 

Author of 

^''Select Fruits from the Highlands of Beulah^''^ ''''Spiritual 

Lessons from Every Day Life^^^ ''''Fragments from 

the King^s Table,^^ ''''Sermons That Never 

Die,^^ ''''Daily Guide for the Sancti- 

Hed,^^ ^'Lost SouVs First Day 

in Eternity, ^^ Etc., Etc. 



*'Line upon line; here a little^ 
and there a little''' (Isa, 28: 13). 



TEUE GOSPEL GRAIN PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1118 West Spring Street 

Lima, Ohio 

1918 






Copyright 1918 

BY 

J. M. HUMPHREY 



I^PR 24 1918 



r^ 



LC Control Number 
THE FR: „ iiiiiiiii„,i„„„i .„,».,.,. ^G HOUSE 




tmp96 027697 



DEDICATED 

to the Kind Reader 

with the earnest hope that 

he may he benefited 

dp its perusal. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I. — The Ocean Reflecting God 11 

II. — ^Spiritual Lessons from the Stars 16 

III. — ^GoD IN THE Storms 20 

IV.— A Field 22 

V. — Jesus Seen in the Flowers 25 

VI. — An Orchard 30 

VII. — 'Surface Springs 35 

VIII. — The Donkey's Rebuke 38 

IX.— The One Ewe Lamb 42 

X. — Samson's Foxes 46 

XI. — The Lowing Kine 50 

XII. — ^David's Lion and Bear 54 

XIII.— ^The Ox 57 

XIV. — The Herd of Swine 59 

XV.— hThe Tied Colt 63 

XVI.— The Straying Sheep 66 

XVII.— **DoGS Eat the Crumbs" 69 

XVIII. — The Chameleon 73 

XIX. — The Prepared Worm 76 

XX.— Elijah's Raven 80*^ 

XXI.— The Eagle's Nest.^-. 83 

XXII. — ^Abraham's ''Birds of Prey" 88 

XXIII.— ^The Crowing Cock 91 

XXIV.— "Dead Flies" 94 

XXV.— The Ant 97 

XXVI.— The Honey Bee 100 

XXVII. — Results of a Rash Remark 103 

XXVIII.— A Shadow 105 

XXIX.— Defying God 107 

XXX. — An Achan in the Camp 108 

XXXI. — iDeath of the Intended Bride 110 

XXXII.— -Ill-gotten Gain 113 



CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 

XXXIIL— A Human Skeleton 115 

XXXIV. — ^Heaven Insulted 117 

XXXV.— -The Death-Bed 119 

XXXVI.— Adam and Eve 122 

XXXVIL— Cain and Abel 127 

XXXVIII.— iCain's Trouble Located 132 

XXXIX. — 'Noah and the Flood 135 

XL. — Abraham and Lot 140 

XLI. — ^Lot's Sodomward Course , 143 

XLII. — 'Elijah's Small Cloud 146 ' 

XLIII. — ^The Glory is Departed. 152 

XLIV.— The Wild Vine 155 

XLV. — 'The Punctuality of God 159 

XLVL— The Half Has Not Been Told. .......... 166 

XLVII.— Fox-Fire 173 

XLVIII.— That Old Serpent 177 

XLIX.— Parable of the Good Samaritan 181 

L. — ^The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing 184 

LI. — The Seven Steps to the Savior 188 

LII. — ^Saul, Balaam and Solomon 192 

LIII. — Dwelling Deep 199 

LIV. — ^Paul's Journey to Rome 207 

LV. — ^The Beggar Lazarus 213 

LVI.— The Holy Anointing Oil 219 



[8] 



THE OPENING PEAYEE 



"Eternal Spirit! God of truth! to wliom 
All things seem as they are; Thou who of old 
The prophet's eyes unsealed, that nightly saw, 
While heavy sleep fell down on other men, 
In holy vision tranced, the future pass 
Before him, and to Judah's harp attuned 
Burdens which made the pagan mountains shake, 
And Zion's cedars bow — inspire my theme; 
My eye unscale ; me what is substance teach ; 
And shadow what, while I in holy fear 
Attempt to feed the sheep and tender lambs." 



[9] 



THE OCEAN EEFLECTING GOD 

*'0r who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, 
* * * And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further : 
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" (Job 38:8,11). 

The all-wise God in creating the universe has so 
arranged it that all things in heaven and earth, like 
so many mirrors, should daily reflect His moral at- 
tributes. Among the many things employed in this 
great work is the ocean, which seems to be chief, 
^ince in so many w^ays it resembles the great God. 

Now, for our special edification let us notice some 
of the many ways in which the ocean resembles the 
Lord Jehovah. 

1. It is unfathomable in some places. In many 
instances men have labored to find its depth, but all 
to no avail. So is the great God unfathomable and 
past finding out. There is no marvel that Zophar 
the Naamathite should ask afflicted Job the follow- 
ing questions : ^^Canst thou * * * find out the 
Almighty unto perfection ? It is as high as heaven ; 
what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst 
thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the 
earth, and broader than the sea'' (Job 11:7-9). 
David also took up the strain and said, "Whither 
shall I go from Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee 
from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, 
Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, 

[111 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, 
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even 
there shall Thj hand lead me, and Thy right hand 
shall hold me'^ (Psa. 139 : 7-10) . The prophet Isaiah 
asked the following questions: ^'Hast thou not 
known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting 
God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, 
f ainteth not, neither is weary ? there is no searching 
of His understanding'' (Isa. 40:28). 

2» A second way in which the ocean resembles 
the great God is in the fact that it is exhaustless. 
It is never affected hy long droughts or famines. No 
matter how great the demand for water may be, or 
how many thirsty souls drink thereof, there is still a 
full supply. Neither can the great God be exhausted, 
giving doth not impoverish Him, neither doth with- 
holding enrich Him. Listen to the voice of inspira- 
tion, ^^Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no money; come ye'' (Isa. 
55 : 1) . ^^In the last day, that great day of the feast, 
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let 
him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37). The 
blessed Bible closed with the following invitation: 
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let 
him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is 
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely" (Eev. 22: 17). There is enough 
for all, and enough to spare. 

.3. Yet another way in which the ocean resem- 
bles the great Creator is in the fact that it is imcorir 
querable and can not be controlled or restrained by 

[12] 



THE OCEAN EEFLEOTING GOD 

human povf er. It heeds not the voice of kings with 
all their wealth and war, but lifts its proud head 
above all created powers, and bows to none but God. 
How strikingly this reminds us of Him who maketh 
the clouds His chariot, and rideth upon the wings 
of the wind ; He "who hath measured the waters in 
the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with 
the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth 
in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, 
and the hills in a balance;'' He, who said, "Behold 
the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are 
counted as the small dust of the balance : behold, He 
taketh up the isles as a very little thing « « * 
Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not 
been told you from the beginning? have ye not 
understood from the foundations of the earth? It is 
He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the 
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that 
stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spread- 
eth them out as a tent to dwell in : that bringeth the 
princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the 
earth as vanity'' (Isa. 40:12,15, 21-23). Job ex- 
claimed, "Lo, He goeth by me, and I see Him not. 
* * * Behold, He taketh away, who can hinder 
Him? Who will say unto Him, What doest Thou?" 
(Job 9:11,12). 

4. Benevolence is another characteristic of the 
ocean which strikingly resembles our heavenly 
Father. "The great ocean is in a constant state of 
evaporation. It gives back what it receives, and 
sends up its waters in mists to gather into clouds ; 

[13] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



and so there is rain on the fields, and storm on the 
mountain, and greenness and beauty everywhere. 
But there are people who do not believe in evapora- 
tion. They get all they can and keep all they get. 
How numberless are the blessings we owe to the 
ocean, the father and sustainer of all organic life! 
He it is that feeds the streams, that fills the lakes, 
that bubbles in the spring, that foams in the cat- 
aract, or rushes along in the mountain torrent. 
Should his eternal fountains be dried up, the 
blooming surface of the earth would be converted 
into a naked waste. To him we owe the mag- 
nificence of our forests, the verdure of our meadows, 
and the beauty of our fields. It is his waters we en- 
joy in the luscious fruits of our orchards, or quaflf 
in the juice of the exhilarating grape. They circu- 
late in the veins of numberless animals; of the bee 
which offers us the sweet tribute of its honey; of 
the bird, that charms us with its melodious song; 
of the domestic quadruped, on whose flesh we feed, 
and whose services are indispensable to our wel- 
fare.'' Oh, how strikingly this reminds us of our 
benevolent Creator ! 

"Harp of Eternity ! begin the song, 
Redeemed and angel harp ! begin to God, 
Begin the anthem ever sweet and new, 
While I extol Him, holy, just and good. 
Life, beauty, light, intelligence and love, 
Eternal, uncreated, infinite! 
Unsearchable Jehovah! God of truth, 
Maker, upholder, governor of all! 
Thyself unmade, ungoverned, unupheld! 

[14] 



THE OCEAN KEFLECTING GOD 



Omnipotent, unchangeable, great God! 
Exhaustless fulness ! giving unimpaired ! 
Bounding immensity, unspread, unbounded! 
Highest and best ! beginning, middle, end ! 
All-seeing eye ! all-seeing and unseen ! 
Hearing unheard ! all-knowing, and unknown ! 
Above all praise ! above all height of thought ! 
Proprietor of immortality ! 
Glory ineffable I bliss underived !" 



[15] 



II 

SPIEITUAL LESSONS FEOM THE STAES 

*'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firma- 
ment sheweth his handiwork" (Psa. 19: 1). 

In the Word of God there are many beautiful 
pictures drawn from the stars. In the book of Dan- 
iel we read the following statement: ^^And they that 
be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
ment ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as 
the stars for ever and ever'' (Dan. 12:3). 

Jesus said : ^^And there shall be signs in the sun, 
and in the moon, and in the stars" (Luke 21:25). 
Paul said: '^There is one glory of the sun, and an- 
other glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars'^ (1 Cor. 15:41). 

The soul w^hose chief aim upon earth is to know 
God and live in the center of His wdll, learns of Him 
not only from the Bible, but also from the birds, 
flowers, grasses, winds, waters, clouds, sun, moon 
and stars. On many an evening w^e have all, no 
doubt, stood and gazed with amazement upon the 
billions of starry lamps which gilded the azure vault. 

During the writer's meditation upon the twin- 
kling stars, he has learned from them the following 
lessons, w^hich he wishes to here impart to the 
reader. 

1. The first thing that comes to mind is how^ 
[16] 



SPIEITUAL LESSONS FEOM THE STAES 

vastly they differ in size and luster. While many of 
them sparkle like large diamonds, there are millions 
of others so small and dim that they can scarcely 
be seen. Notwithstanding that being a fact, there is 
no envy or dissatisfaction existing among them, but 
they all unite their voices and joyfully and harmoni- 
ously sing the nocturnal doxology. Is this not an 
excellent lesson for Christians to learn? There are 
those who are perplexed and puzzled over not being 
gifted and talented like some one else. Others are 
tempted to leave the corner in which God has placed 
them, because the visible results are not so great as 
those of a fellow worker. And still another class 
are tempted to doubt away their present experience 
because they do not jump as high, shout as loud, talk 
as long or get blest as frequently as some one else. 
O brother, sister! do learn a lesson from the stars 
and be contented to be yourself and to shine in your 
own sphere. 

2. The next profound lesson which the w^riter 
has learned from the stars is as follows : They are 
not spasmodic in performing their nightly task, but 
constant and faithful. No night is too dark, no 
storm too loud, no weather too severe to prevent 
their being on duty. It matters not how things go 
in earth or hell, they continue to shine on. Eeader, 
if you would live for God and be a blessing to hu- 
manity, you must get an experience where nothing 
disturbs or turns you from the royal way. No mat- 
ter what men or devils say or do, you must stand 
fast and ever hold an even light before the w^orld. 

[17] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before meu, 
that they may see your good works, and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven'' (Matt. 5: 16). 

3. A third truth revealed by the stars is this: 
Notwithstanding their variation in size and luster, 
they all send forth the same quality of pure, flawless 
light. It is true many of them are so small that 
they can scarcely be seen with the natural eye, yet 
they send forth as pure a light as the larger ones. 
We may not all be called to preach, write books, sing 
the gospel or go to foreign fields, yet we can be sin- 
cere Christians, having a spotless character, un- 
biased purpose and white motive. These things are 
of greater value in the sight of God than the cre- 
ating of a world. What saith the Scripture? 
^Though I speak with the tongues of men and of an- 
gels, and have not charity, I am become as sound- 
ing brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have 
the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, 
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so 
that I could remove mountains and have not charity, 
I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods 
to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be 
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me noth- 
ing'' (ICor. 13:1-3). 

4. The next valuable lesson taught by the stars, 
which we shall never forget, is this : No matter how 
the spangling arch may be backgrounded with 
boundless gloom, the darkness does not affect the 
stars, but strengthens and increases their luster. So 
it is with the true child of God, instead of trouble, 

[18] 



SPIKITUAL LESSONS FEOM THE STAKS 

sorrow, opposition and disappointment hindering 
him and casting him down, it only makes him shine 
the brighter. 

5. The fact that the stars and other orbs are 
much larger in reality than they appear to the nat- 
ural eye, has also taught us a wonderful lesson. 
"Ask an astronomer. How large is the spangling 
arch ? and instantly he would see in imagination un- 
numbered millions of worlds, systems, constella- 
tions, clusters and aggregations in our or the visible 
universe, and beyond this he is reasonably certain 
that other universes, universe after universe, infinity 
after infinity, unspeakable in dimension and dura- 
tion, stretch away into unfathomable, endless space, 
until his imagination is stunned, his mind reels, and 
his reason cries, ^Halt!' for the finite mind here 
meets the incomprehensible.'' Mercury from our 
view-point is scarcely larger than a pin-head, but in 
reality it is said to be about three thousand miles in 
diameter. The child of God, from the sinner's view- 
point, appears small, worthless and insignificant, but 
when we see him from redemption's view-point, we 
see a redeemed saint, a king, a priest, a son of God, 
an heir of heaven, a being of endless fame and years. 
He is by no means alone and single-handed, but an- 
gels are camping about him, and the Father, Son 
and Holy Ghost are abiding in him, and all of the 
armies of heaven are at his command. 

Praise God for the lessons from the stars ! 



[19] 



Ill 

GOD IN THE STOEMS 

"Make them afraid witli Thy storm" (Psa. 83:15). 

No doubt on judgment day when the secrets of 
all hearts are fully known, and the providence of 
God fully revealed to the children of men, we will 
awake to the fact that many of the things which we 
feared in this life, and considered among our chief 
enemies, were some of our greatest blessings in dis- 
guise. 

From our difficult point of view in this present 
life, there is hardly anything more dreaded by the 
human race than storms, cyclones and earthquakes; 
and yet these very things have given rise to more 
genuine revivals of religion than a generation of 
preachers and gospel workers. Doubtless the prophet 
Isaiah, to some extent, had this thought in mind 
when he penned the following lines: ^^When Thy 
judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the 
world will learn righteousness'' (Isa. 26:9). 

Let us briefly notice some of the many blessings 
that are brought to us through storms and cyclones. 

1. There is hardly a more convincing argument 
against infidelity to be found this side of eternity 
than that produced by an electric storm. It is al- 
most a matter of impossibility for a puny, finite be- 
ing to behold the zigzag lightning playing hide-and- 

[20] 



GOD m THE STOEMS 



seek in the heavens, and listen to the cannons of 
heaven thundering loud and long, and still doubt the 
existence of a supreme being. It is true he may try 
to leave his fellow men under the impression that he 
does not believe in the existence of a supreme being, 
but deep down in his heart he believes differently. 

2. Storms and cj^clones are some of Jehovah's 
most successful ways of speaking to thoughtless, im- 
penitent sinners. Many times, when being addressed 
by the Man of God, they are trifling, irreverent and 
unheeding, but not so when being addressed by the 
wolfy winds, the zigzag lightning, and the rumbling 
thunders. During such times, many sit in breathless 
awe, some flee to their secret chambers to hide, and 
others grow serious and calm. No time then for 
mirth and jesting, for Jehovah, the Lord of all the 
earth, the Proprietor of immortality, is speaking; 
hence they are compelled to give Him audience. 

3. Storms to some extent give us a faint concep- 
tion of the power and mightiness of God. When we 
behold houses being scattered like chaff, the earth 
plowed like a corn field, the mountains swept like a 
threshing floor, the giant oak broken like a slender 
reed, and the ocean piled into mountains of foaming 
water, we are then brought to realize more fully the 
mightiness of Jehovah, and the thunder of His 
power. 

*'God moves in a mysterious way 

His wonders to perform ; 
He plants His footsteps on the sea 

And rides upon the storm/' 



[21] 



IV 
A FIELD 

"The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which 
the Lord hath blessed" (Gen. 27:27). 

The Lord Jesus, while upon earth, was a great 
out-of-doors preacher ; therefore He frequently called 
the attention of His hearers to a field. At one time 
He called their attention to the grasses of a field, at 
another time to the lilies, and at still another time, 
to the grain. All of these w^ere the products of the 
field. 

While the writer of these lines was deeply medi- 
tating upon a field, he discovered so many beautiful 
resemblances to our heavenly Father that he could 
not resist the temptation of jotting them down. 

In the Savior's sermon on the mount, He said, 
^^Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see 
God." And so it is, all those who really get cleansed 
from sin and w^ho really have their eyes anointed 
with the holy eye-salve, can not only trace God in the 
places of w^orship and in holy books, but can also 
see Him on land and sea: yes, even in a field. If 
the children of Adam were without a bible and 
w^ould simply obey the yearly instructions given 
them from a ^^field/^ they w^ould be exceptionally 
pious. 

It might be profitable at this point, reader, for us 

[22] 



A FIELD 



to notice some of the valuable lessons suggested to 
us by a field. 

1. It calls our attention to the bountifulness of 
God, our heavenly Father. Where can we find a 
more striking picture of the unbounded liberality of 
God than a beautiful field, bestudded with vege- 
tables, burdened with shocks of corn, or swelling 
with a sea of golden grain ? The field, like its great 
Creator, also supplies all classes, both rich and poor, 
high and low, great and small, in both city and coun- 
try, and on land and sea. All nations are in some 
way nourished from the field. 

2. The next information brought to us through 
a field is in the fact that even though God does have 
in reserve great spiritual and temporal blessings for 
His children, yet there are certain conditions to be 
met before those blessings can be obtained. It is 
true a field will yield a rich harvest, provided the 
husbandman meets the conditions required to bring 
about a harvest. But if he fails to till his ground, 
sow his seed, and cultivate his crop, he will reap no 
harvest. So it is with the promised blessings of our 
kind heavenly Father, they are all conditional. The 
^Villing and obedient * * * shall eat the good of 
the land : But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be de- 
voured by the sword," says the prophet (Isa. 1: 19). 

3. The next beautiful thought suggested by a 
well-cultivated field is as follows : It shows us how 
the grace of God can transform a wild, evil-tangled, 
sinful heart and life into a fruitful field and garden 
of blooming flowers. The prophet Isaiah made the 

[23] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



following exclamation long ago: ^^The desert shall 
rejoice, and blossom as a rose." 

4. A final lesson bronght to us through a field is 
as follows : It shows us the only way by which the 
spirit of prayer, soul concern, and a hearty relish 
for the things of God can be retained; namely, by 
constant spiritual activity. If the husbandman 
would have a good appetite and not be a victim of 
indigestion, he must labor and toil, and by so doing 
will obtain a hearty relish for the product of his 
field. Equally so must the servant of God be active 
in spiritual things, if he would retain the spirit of 
prayer, the burden of souls and a hearty relish for 
spiritual things. There are hundreds of God's chil- 
dren throughout the land suffering from spiritual in- 
digestion as a result of not getting enough spiritual 
exercise. 

Eeader, how is it with you ? 



[24] 



JESUS SEEN IN THE FLOWEES 



"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys" 
(S. S. 2:1). 

Inspiration here compares the Lord Jesus to the 
fragrant rose, which grew in Sharon. Sharon was a 
very fruitful place, where David's cattle were fed. 
It is also mentioned in Isaiah 35 : 2 as a place of ex- 
cellency. 

Among the many objects in nature which have 
been sources of inspiration to the writer, as well as 
food for thought, is the flower family. We know of 
nothing in the world that contains as many striking 
resemblances to the world's Eedeemer as the flowers. 
In the following lines will be seen some of the many 
ways in which this is noticeable. 

1. They frequently spring from a root in dry 
ground. However, before any beauty or fragrance 
can be discerned by the human family, it is first nec- 
essary for the root to pass through various changes 
and circumstances. So it is with Jesus. He is called 
a root out of a dry ground, having no beauty at all 
(Isa. 53:2), but when transplanted into our lives, 
and all the conditions of growth are complied with. 
He becomes the fairest among ten thousand and alto- 
gether lovely. To careless observers there is nothing 
in Christianity but a dry, uninteresting form, but 

[25] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



those who have accepted the Lord Jesus have truly 
found a heaven below. 

2. The next striking similarity between the 
flowers and the Savior is seen in their beauty and 
almost endless variety. The writer did not know the 
world contained such an immense variety of flowers 
until we visited enchanting California. There we 
saw flowers of numberless hues, growing profusely 
everywhere ; even in the commons and byways. There 
is also endless variety and beauty in Jesus Christ, 
namely, loveliness, gentleness, tenderness, meekness, 
compassion, purity, light, life, etc. The devout soul 
who lives in the Spirit and walks continually with 
Jesus, discovers new beauties in Him each passing 
day. 

* * * "What is love, 
If this Indissoluble bond that links 
Me and my Lord forever be not love? 
His costly, precious, infinite, divine: 
Mine human, limited, and mean and poor, 
And yet His inward Spirit v^hispers, true. 
For what were all this gorgeous Paradise, 
The music of these waters, and these bowers 
Fragrant with fruitage, what were all to me. 
And tenfold all, twice measured, without Him? 
Without Him heaven were but a desert rude; 
With Him a desert, heaven." * * * 

3. A third way in which flowers resemble the 
Christ of God is in the way they attract, encourage 
and cheer the afflicted and disheartened children of 
men. We have all, no doubt, noticed how quickly 
gloom and loneliness can be dispersed from a sick- 

[26] 



JESUS SEEN IN THE FLOWEES 

room and the sufferer's mind diverged from his mis- 
ery by flowers. It seems to be the mission of flowers to 
scatter sunshine and gladness. Equally so is it the 
mission of the ^^Eose of Sharon" and the ^^Lily of the 
valleys'' to disperse the gloom of sin and despair, 
and infuse life, light, hope and gladness into every 
home and heart. "Methinks if there were no other 
proofs in the world of God's goodness, the flowers 
would supply them in abundance. Answer it to thy- 
self, poor soul, that doubts His love, that darest not 
trust the voice in thine own heart, telling thee that 
thy Father in heaven is all which that heart can 
adore. Why has He made these flowers? Why does 
He send to thee these little joys, as gentle and un- 
noticed, often, as a mother's kiss upon a sleeping 
child? There is not, it would seem, a conceivable 
reason to be given for the existence of flowers [at 
least for their beauty and perfume] other than the 
intention to provide for man a pure and most deli- 
cate pleasure." 

4. A bunch of beautiful flowers will sometimes 
touch the hardest of hearts, and cause the coldest, 
crudest and most disagreeable person to smile and 
become friendly. So will the Lord Jesus when ad- 
mitted into one's life. He will transform the lion 
into a lamb; the grouchy, touchy home devil into a 
loving, kind-hearted husband, pious father and good- 
natured employer; and the contentious, pouting, 
fault-finding, grumbling demoness into a loving 
wife, patient mother and agreeable neighbor. 

5. The fact that roses, lilies, violets, pansies and 

[27] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



similar flowers do not grow upon tall trees, but upon 
shrubs and vines near the ground, also reminds us of 
the lowly One who left the shining courts of glory 
and was born in a manger, slept in the wilderness, 
lived on charity, rode upon a donkey, w^ashed the 
feet of His disciples, and died on the public high- 
way (Matt. 27:39). Oh, what condescension! 

6. We know not of a more beautiful and striking 
emblem of the purity and innocence of the Lamb of 
God than a snow-white lily. It would be quite diffi- 
cult for a civilized human being to look upon this 
beautiful emblem of purity and not be reminded of 
Him ^'who did no sin, and in w^hose mouth was 
found no guile.'' 

7. The lily retaining its purity, and keeping 
white amid contaminating elements, also reminds us 
of the power of the blood of Jesus Christ to make 
and keep mortals clean and holy in this present 
world. What saith the Scripture on this point? 
'^Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for 
it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the 
washing of water by the Word, that He might pre- 
sent it to Himself a glorious church, not having 
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it 
should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5 : 25-27) . 
^^But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, 
we have fellowship one with another, and the blood 
of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" 
(1 John 1:7). I would have you attend to the full 
significance and extent of the term ^^purity." It is 
not abstinence from outward deeds of profligacy 

[2S] 



JESUS SEEN IN THE FLOWEES 

alone; it is not a mere recoil from impurity in 
thought. It is that quick and sensitive delicacy to 
which even the very conception of evil is offensive; 
it is a virtue which has its residence within, which 
takes guardianship of the heart, as of a citadel or in- 
violate sanctuary, in which no wrong or worthless 
imagination is permitted to dwell. It is not purity 
of action that we contend for; it is exalted purity 
of heart, the ethereal purity of the third heaven. 

8. The delicate, dainty texture of the flowers 
also reminds us of the Savior's tender, gentle. Holy 
Spirit; and how carefully and softly we must walk 
before Him at all times, to retain His favor, and 
not grieve Him av^^ay forever. We are sure, that if 
men could analyze the history of those who have 
grown gray in iniquity, they would find that they 
began with just quieting conscience by a promise or 
excuse ; with resisting the inward admonition in lit- 
tle and apparently trifling things; and thus they 
gradually took off, as it were, the edge of the 
weapon, and then they could resist in great things 
with as much ease as they had done in little things. 

^Tinally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, 
whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are 
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things 
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if 
there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think 
on these things" (Phil. 4:8). 



[29] 



VI 
AN OECHAED 

Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleas- 
ant fruits" (S. S. 4:13). 

The fact that inspiration associates or rather 
compares the church of Jesus Christ to an orchard, 
verifies the fact that they at some point or in some 
way bear a striking resemblance. Let the reader 
now direct his attention to an orchard, and in the 
meantime take special notice of the comparison be- 
tween it and the church of Jesus Christ. 

1. The first thought suggested by the orchard is 
as follows : Fruit trees always seem to thrive much 
better when inclosed in an orchard than when left 
to grow wild in commons and byways. There are 
scores of professing Christians scattered through- 
out the land who have not made this wonderful dis- 
covery. Owing to their ignorance and blindness, 
they are opposed to all churches, and are exerting 
their entire forces opposing churches rather than 
striving to get sinners saved and believers sanctified. 
We are willing to admit that people should sever 
their connection with those so-called churches that 
go hand in hand with sin and the world, but not 
from those clean organizations where the Word of 
God is preached in its purity and made the model 
of life (Eph. 5:25,26). 

[30] 



AN OECHAKD 



2. A second thought suggested by an orchard is 
the fact that all of the trees that blossom do not 
bear fruit. If the husbandman should judge by the 
number of blossoms decking the trees in spring time, 
he would no doubt have an abundance of fruit in the 
fall. But often almost two-thirds of the blossoms 
become affected in some way and fall to the ground, 
while at other times every blossom becomes affected 
and withers away. There are numbers of our good 
brethren to-day who are strong advocates of the doc- 
trine ^^once in grace, always in grace," but accord- 
ing to the statements made in Ezekiel 3 : 20 and 
2 Peter 3 : 7, and also from the fact that King Saul, 
after being converted, was lost (1 Sam. 10:9,10), 
it seems to the writer that there is not only a pos- 
sibility of falling from grace, but landing in hell if 
we do not watch and pray (Gal. 5:4). 

3. Another way in which an orchard is charac- 
teristic of the church, is noticeable in the spring, 
when it puts on its beautiful robe of many hues. Oh, 
what a beautiful picture of purity ! It reminds the 
writer of the following statement of the prophet 
Isaiah many years ago, ^^Awake, awake ; put on thy 
strength, O Zion ; put on thy beautiful garments, O 
Jerusalem, the holy city." It also reminds us of 
that beautiful description given in the following 
words by the wise man of old, ^^Who is she that look- 
eth forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as 
the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" 

4. The delicious fragrance, carried through the 
land by the zephyr's viewless hand, is also a striking 

[31] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



resemblance of the godly influence that sweeps over 
a community from a wide-awake, spiritual church. 
It is then a common occurrence for sinners to be 
converted, believers sanctified, the sick healed and 
the children of God kept healthy, happy and free. 

5. Still another helpful lesson brought to us 
through the orchard is the fact that the largest and 
most delicious fruit does not always grow on the 
tallest or most attractive trees. Many times the 
sweetest and richest fruit is found on a small bush 
near the ground. This may explain somewhat why 
the sweetest and richest Christian experiences are 
not alv>^ays found in the most well-favored, accom- 
plished and gifted persons, but among the lowly, the 
unpretentious and common people. The world's 
Eedeemer was from the despised city of Nazareth, 
John the Baptist from the wilderness, and the be- 
loved John from the sun-baked, rock-strewn beach. 

6. Though each denomination of fruit in the 
orchard be delicious, yet all do not have the same 
flavor. There are no two kinds exactly alike. So 
many of God's children are tempted over the fact 
that they are not like some one else, or because they 
can not sing, pray, testify or preach as others. There 
are many times when people lose their hold upon 
God and go to the altar seeking to be made like some 
one else, and the results are they never get any 
where. If all fruit were apples, what would peach 
lovers do? If all were plums, what would we do for 
cherries? It is true, pears are an excellent fruit, 
but we do not care for them at every meal. 

[32] 



AN ORCHAED 



7. There is also in an orchard some early and 
some late fruit. How wisely God acts in this re- 
spect ! He does not let all the fruit get ripe in the 
same month. If so, we would at one time have a 
feast and at another time a famine. He uses the 
same good judgment in blessing His children in re- 
ligious meetings. He rarely ever blesses them all at 
the same time. Usually He blesses a part of them 
at one meeting and others at the next, and still an- 
other company at the next meeting. If He should 
bless them all at the same time in every meeting, 
they would unconsciously drift into spiritual pride, 
and independence. Hence, by blessing them at sepa- 
rate times, great benefit is derived. Those who fail 
to get blest with the first company usually put in 
time searching their hearts to see if they have let 
down or compromised on any line and thus have got- 
ten off blessing ground. Therefore, by this apparent 
oversight of Jehovah, they are made to tighten up 
their harness, drive down their stakes deeper, pray 
more constantly and resolve to walk more closely 
with God in the future than in the past. When it 
comes the first company's time to be apparently 
slighted and unblest, they will also be affected in a 
similar way, etc. 

8. It is no great difficulty during fruit time for 
even a stranger to find the trees that contain the 
sweetest fruit, for there will be the greatest num- 
ber of clubs, brickbats and stones in and about 
them. This thought, to some extent, may explain 
why some people in the church are everlastingly 

[33] 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



club-thrown, slandered, hen-pecked and persecuted. 
People forget when praying for great grace^ toonder- 
ful power^ and great gifts^ that these things are 
usually accompanied with great responsibilities, 
great persecution, great temptations and a life-long, 
uncommon fight with the devil. 



[34] 



yii 

SURFACE SPEINGS 

"And lie gave her the upper springs, and the nether 
springs" (Josh. 15:19). 

God has given us not only beautiful lessons on 
holy living from the planets, trees, fields and flowers, 
but there are also valuable lessons to be gathered 
from objects deeply hidden in mother earth. One 
denomination of these from v^hich we may gather 
many helpful lessons for the child of God, is the 
spring of water. 

It was reported some years ago, that beneath a 
certain city in the south a large river was dis- 
covered, a hundred or more feet below the soil. 
Almost any well digger can inform us that on dig- 
ging a well of any great depth he sometimes strikes 
several surface streams before getting down to bed 
rock and the living stream. In many instances, 
those who are inexperienced in well digging, stop on 
finding one of these surface streams, thinking they 
have struck the living stream. However, after do- 
ing so, they invariably have trouble. 

1. The greater part of the time they have muddy 
water. 2. They are quite frequently annoyed be- 
cause of the irregular flow of the water. 3. During 
long dry spells they have no water at all. 

Is not this a perfect picture of those who when 
[35] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



digging a spiritual well, stop before striking the liv- 
ing stream? While we paraphrase it, notice haw 
uniquely their religious life harmonizes with the 
description given, (a) Muddy water the greater 
part of the time : That is, they do not possess a sky- 
blue experience, but are constantly troubled with 
doubts, fears and uncertainties. At times they feel 
that they are all right and at other times they think 
they are not. (b) They are not only troubled with 
muddy water^ but are also annoyed with an irreg- 
ular flow of water. Sometimes it flows quite freely 
and again it dwindles down to a very small stream ; 
that is, sometimes they have quite a bit of joy and 
peace, and at other times they have none. This 
brand of joy, however, is not the joy of salvation 
but circumstantial joy, for it depends largely upon 
environment and financial condition for its preserva- 
tion. When the purse is full, circumstances favor- 
able, and friends increasing on everj^ side, the water 
flows profusely; but when the tide changes, it 
changes. How about this, reader? (c) During long 
dry spells no water at all. Eeader, do you fre- 
quently strike a long dry spell in your Christian ex- 
perience, where you can not feel any joy nor hear 
from heaven ? If so, the trouble is this : you need to 
take the pickax of earnest prayer and dig down to 
the living stream where j^our experience will not be 
affected by the various changes. Eainy seasons then 
will not cause the water to become muddy, neither 
will droughts run the spring dry, but you will have 
an even, unceasing flow the whole year through. In 

[361 



SUEFACE SPRING'S 



other words you will be like "a watered garden, and 
like a spring of water, whose waters faileth not" 
(Isa. 58:11). 



[37] 



VIII 
THE DONKEY'S EEBUKE 

*'And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said 
unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast 
smitten me these three times?" (Num. 22:28). 

In the lesson before us we have one of the 
most marvelous occurrences that has ever been re- 
corded in either sacred or profane history. Think 
of a dumb ass suddenly speaking out with man's 
voice ! 

Since the reader is, no doubt, quite familiar with 
the story, we will not take the time to repeat it but 
will proceed to mention some of the helpful spiri- 
tual lessons taught therein. 

It plainly teaches us first, that when ordinary 
methods fail in the hands of God to turn us from 
our self'Willedy headstrong^ determined course, He 
proceeds to use extraordinary methods. Often ill- 
ness, misfortune and sudden death, which are so 
distasteful to the human family, are nothing more 
or less than God's rescue party, sent out to head us 
oflf and prevent our plunging into a lake of fire and 
brimstone. 

Second. It also reveals the faithfulness of the 
Holy Spirit in reproving men of sin and disobedi- 
ence. He is never at a loss for an instrument 
through which to speak. In this instance thep^ 

[38] 



THE DONKEY'S EEBUKE 



seemed to have been no priest, Levite or prophet at 
hand through which He could speak to the head- 
strong prophet; therefore, rather than leave him 
without warning to go on and be slain. He caused 
the ass to speak with man's voice. 

Oh, the numberless methods God is using in this 
our day to check souls on their hellward course! 
He is speaking through dreams and visions, thunder 
and lightning, catastrophes, wars and pestilence in 
every land. Oh, who will heed the warning voice 
of God, and turn before he burns. 

Third. In this marvelous story will also be found 
quite a bit of encouragement for those of God's chil- 
dren who consider themselves dull, awkward, igno- 
rant and slow of speech. If God could make the 
dumb ass speak plainly, smoothly and correctly, can 
He not help you also, reader? Notice what He said 
to His servant Moses on the same subject: ^^And 
Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not elo- 
quent, neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast 
spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech, 
and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him, 
Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the 
dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind ? * * * 
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and 
teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exod. 4:10-12). 
"Then said I, Ah^ Lord God! behold, I can not 
speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto 
me. Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all 
that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command 
thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces : 

[39] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord" 
(Jer. 1:6,7). 

Fourth. Balaam's conduct at this time also re- 
veals to us the fact that there is a possibility of our 
becoming so determined, headstrong and set on car- 
rying out our plans that our otvn self-will will make 
us too blind to recognize God working in an unusual 
way to stop us. Balaam was so enthused and anx- 
ious to go with Balak's men, that he not only rushed 
by an inward check of the Spirit, but also failed to 
notice anything uncornmoii in the dumb ass speak- 
ing. Any ordinary man, on hearing the ass speak, 
would have dismounted and fled, thoroughly fright- 
ened; but Balaam did not appear in the least 
startled, but entered right into conversation with 
her as though she had been a person. 

Oh, the blindness, hardness and deafness of self- 
w^ill ! It has rushed many heedless souls beyond the 
bounds of mercy and pardon. 

So many times the minister, pious parents and 
friends have admonished and plead with self-willed 
people, not to take this or that step, not to pursue 
this or that course, etc., but in spite of it all they 
rushed on beneath the angel's flaming sword and 
were slain. 

"There is a Une by us unseen, 

That crosses every path : 
The hidden boundry between 

God's patience and His wrath. 

"To pass this limit is to die ; 
To die as if by stealth ; 



[40] 



THE DONKEY'S EEBUKE 



It does not quench the beaming eye 
Or pale the glow of health. 

"Oh ! where is this mysterious bourne 
By which our path is crossed; 

Beyond which God Himself hath sworn 
That he who goes is lost?" 



[41] 



IX 
THE ONE EWE LAMB 

"And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came 
unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one 
city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had 
exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had 
nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and 
nourished up : and it grew up together with him, and with 
his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his 
own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a 
daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man, 
and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own 
herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto 
him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the 
man that was come to him" (2 Sam. 12:1-4). 

Nathan's unique parable contained not only 
enough pointed truth to pierce the steeled heart of 
a backslidden king, but also has a message for the 
children of Adam in every age. It gives in brief one 
of the most striking descriptions of selfishness that 
we have ever beheld. Almost every one who reads 
this story is ready to exclaim with King David, ^^As 
the Lord liveth the man that hath done this thing 
shall surely die." And yet, if we would make a close 
investigation, we would discover that nearly one- 
third of the human race is, to some extent, guilty at 
this point. It is true, they may not be guilty of 
committing adultery and murder, yet, they are 
guilty of committing some little unkind act of 

[42] 



THE ONE EWE LAMB 



selfishness, which according to James (2: 10) places 
them on the same plane with the man who took the 
poor man's lamb. 

Let us prayerfully and thoughtfully notice in 
the following lines some of the many indirect ways 
this brutal act is being repeated in the age in which 
we live, for in this investigation we may discover 
that we ourselves are guilty of a similar offense. 

1. If a person takes the advantage of his poor 
neighbor's circumstances and forces him to sell his 
goods below the market price, simply because he is 
in need of money, or because it is getting late in 
the season, or because for some reason he is com- 
pelled to break up and leave the city; for any one 
to treat his poor neighbor thus is, in a way, taking 
the poor man's lamb. 

2. Should a man of humble circumstances have 
in his possession a piece of real estate, a patent or 
a copyright that was rapidly increasing in value, 
and which in a few years would bring him a for- 
tune, and should a man of means take the advan- 
tage of his ignorance and buy it from him at a low 
figure without first informing him of its present 
value and future prospect, it would be another way 
of taking the poor man's lamb. 

3. Still another way of committing this heart- 
less act of selfishness is when we have unemployed 
money on hand and a poor neighbor or brother needs 
a small loan to tide him over a hard place, and 
before accommodating him we demand his home or 
furniture for a pledge, or exact a heavy interest, 

[43] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



while at the same time his family is destitute of the 
necessities of life. IS^otice what God has to say at 
this point: ^'If thou lend money to any of my peo- 
ple that is poor hj thee, thou shalt not be to him as 
a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury'' 
(Exod. 22:25). ^^And if thy brother be waxen 
poor, and fallen in decay with thee ; then thou shalt 
relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a so- 
journer; that he may live with thee. Take thou no 
usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that 
thy brother may live with thee" (Lev. 25:35,36). 

4. Yet another way of slaying the poor man's 
lamb is, if while we have a sufficient income to cover 
our needs, or have money in the bank, we go to 
church and have them lift an offering for us, pre- 
tending to be in destitute circumstances. The 
greater part of this offering would of course be 
given by the widows and people in w^orse circum- 
stances perhaps than ourselves. Hence, this would 
be a unique way of reserving our flocks and herds, 
and sla3 ing the poor man's lamb. 

5. Still another way of committing this diabol- 
ical act of selfishness, is when the proprietor of a 
large concern sells his goods below the market price 
with no other end in view than to draw away cus- 
tomers from his neighbor, who is engaged in the 
same line of business, only on a smaller scale. 

6. The following act of selfishness is also 
worthy of a place in this article. When a man of 
ordinary ability writes a composition and it be- 
comes quite popular, and in the meantime a more 

[44] 



THE ONE EWE LAMB 



accomplished writer, realizing the success with 
which it is meeting, imitates the work as far as pos- 
sible and claims the authorship. This is not only 
selfishness, but down right stealing. 

7. If your poor neighbor should advertise a 
house, farm, horse or piano for sale, and you should 
meet a customer inquiring the way to that man's 
residence, and instead of giving him the desired in- 
formation, you begin telling him of a similar article 
that you have for sale, this would be another way 
of taking your poor neighbor's lamb. 

8. A final way of reserving your own flocks and 
herds and slaying the poor man's lamb, is when per- 
sons with a reasonable portion of this world's goods, 
conceal the fact and take advantage of the public 
charities, namely hospitals, poorhouses, old people's 
homes, etc. This class of people, of course, have 
more prestige with the authorities than the poor. 
For this reason, many times these institutions are 
largely filled with people of means, while those who 
are really in need are crowded out. Some months 
ago, in the city of Chicago, in a cheap, religious 
lodging-house for the poor, a man died with a bank 
book on his person containing six thousand dollars. 
According to the writer's judgment, this was a clear 
case of a rich man reserving his own flocks and 
herds and taking the poor man's lamb, offering it 
as a sacrifice to his covetousness. 

Eeader, are you in any way guilty at this point ? 



[45] 



SAMSON'S FOXES 

"And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and 
took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand 
in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the 
brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the 
Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the 
standing corn, with the vineyards and olives" (Judges 
15:4,5). 

If we were allowed to give this little narration a 
spiritual title, it would be as follows : ^^ Results of a 
Spirit-filled LifeJ^ There are several things con- 
nected with this lesson that greatly remind us of 
the operations of the Holy Spirit upon believers in 
the present dispensation. 

1. The first manifestation of supernatural 
power noticeable in the story is seen in the cap- 
turing of the three hundred foxes. If it should have 
been three hundred sheep, goats, hogs, cats or dogs 
it would be no great marvel; but any one who has 
ever engaged in chasing foxes and has become ac- 
quainted to any extent with their shyness, shrewd- 
ness and sw^iftness, will readily admit that it re- 
quired more than mortal power for any one man, 
yea, forty men, to round up and capture such a 
great number of foxes. No doubt the spiritual les- 
son God wishes to teach us here is this: no matter 
how ignorant, wicked, fearful and wild sinners may 

[46] 



SAMSON'S FOXES 



appear, the blessed Holy Spirit through His obedi- 
ent children can round them up and bring them to 
God. Think how quickly He rounded up not only 
three hundred, but three thousand skeptical Jews on 
the day of Pentecost through one sermon. Think 
how uniquely He rounded up the lion-hearted Saul, 
and sent him forth to scatter holy fire in every land. 
Think how He rounded up Whitfield, Fletcher and 
Wesley, and sent them forth to kindle watch-fires 
on land and sea, to burn forever. Oh, hallelujah to 
the Lamb! 

2. The flaming-tailed foxes, running to and fro, 
strikingly prefigured the conduct of the Spirit-filled 
believers in the dispensation of the Holy Ghost. As 
soon as these foxes caught fire they began to run. 
It was so with the disciples on the day of Pentecost, 
and it is ^^just the same to-day.'^ There is no time 
for loitering and lounging around when our hearts 
get filled with holy fire. If we should not be per- 
mitted to preach in the church we will preach in 
the streets and byways. If we can not go to foreign 
fields, we will go from house to house, praying, ex- 
horting or handing out tracts. It is just as impos- 
sible for a Spirit-filled soul to lie idle as it would 
have been for those foxes to stand still while the 
firebrands were tied to their tails. Eeader, if you 
are loitering around and idling away God's precious 
time, there is no doubt about it, your fire has surely 
gone out. 

3. You will notice that the fire was not at- 
tached to their heads or to the middle part of their 

[47] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



bodies, but to their tails. This was done, no doubt, 
to prevent them from ^^hacking up/^ and to cause 
them to go forward continually. Their going was 
not spasmodical, but they kept pushing onward 
every minute. They had to keep on the run to keep 
the blaze from turning upon them. What the 
church needs to-day is a lot of fire-baptized, Spirit- 
filled men and women to run to and fro, and plant 
the cross in every land. 

4. The next point of interest regarding the mis- 
sion of the foxes v>'as this: they burned such a wide 
swath wherever they went that it could not be 
doubted for a moment that they had passed through 
the community. They affected the corn fields and 
also the vine and olive yards. "'Corn'' at this place, 
spiritually speaking, would stand for the commer- 
cial side of life, while grapes and olives represent 
the domestic and social side of life, since wine and 
oil are both used as symbols of joy. This plainly 
shows us that Holy Ghost religion touches all sides 
of life. Nowadays, on visiting a community just 
after a large modern revival has closed, it will be 
quite difficult to discover a single sign of its effect 
upon the community. The reason for this, however, 
is because the foxes were not on fire. They ran 
through the corn, it is true, but left no shocks burn- 
ing behind them. 

5. Samson did not send the foxes out single- 
handed, but sent them in companies of two. The 
present-day church, as yet, has failed to realize the 
vast importance of sending her workers out in com- 

[48] 



SAMSON'S FOXES 



panies of two. Jesus sent the disciples in com- 
panies of two. The Holy Ghost said, ^^Separate me 
Barnabus and Saul, for the work/' etc. Where the 
Bible says, ^^One shall chase a thousand/' it also in- 
fers that two can put ten times that many to flight. 
Can anything be more clear than this ? The reason, 
no doubt, wh}' this method is not carried out more 
fully these days is because many of the workers 
are so self-willed and headstrong that no one can 
work with them. This is due to their losing the 
fire. 



[49] 



XI 

THE LOWING KINE 

*'Xow therefore make a new cart, and take two milch 
kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to 
the cart, and bring their calves home from them : and take 
the ark of the Lord, and lay it upon the cart ; and put the 
jewels of gold, which ye return Him for a trespass offering, 
in a coffer by the side thereof ; and send it away, that it 
may go. And see, if it goeth up by the way of His own 
coast to Beth-shemesh, then He hath done us this great evil : 
but if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that 
smote us; it was a chance that happened to us. And the 
men did so ; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the 
cart, and shut up their calves at home : And they laid the 
ark of the Lord upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice 
of gold and the images of their emerods. And the kine took 
the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went 
along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not 
aside to the right hand or to the left" (1 Sam. 6:7-12). 

Oh, w^hat a mint of spiritual wealth there is hid- 
den in this brief story! 

It contains a great many high-class, spiritual 
lessons for the children of God in every walk of 
life. Eeader, let us narrowly scan it from end to 
end and glean up all soul food possible. 

1. The first valuable truth to which it opens our 
eyes, is how uniformly and smoothly things work 
when we strike the current of God's will, when we 
get in divine order and set our faces in the right di- 

[50] 



THE LOWING KINE 



rection. The sea instantly became calm after Jonah 
had been thrown overboard and went gliding toward 
Nineveh in the "whale-car.'' The Philistines were 
astonished to see these untrained cows submit so 
readily to the yoke and go straight forward ; not to 
the pasture, not to their calves but toward the land 
of Israel, the home of the ark of God. Much of the 
up-hill work and fruitless efforts of thousands of 
professed Christians to-day is due to their being out 
of divine order and in the land of the Philistines. 
They are trying to run the "car of salvation" with- 
out throwing off the break. 

2. The next thought suggested here is that God 
does not confine Himself to any one method, but 
has numberless methods that we have never thought 
of, with which to propagate His work. There are 
many good people to-day who are greatly tempted to 
cast away their confidence and doubt the work of 
God already wrought in their souls, simply because 
they did not see the same light, hear the same voice 
or receive the same kind of a divine manifestation 
that some one else received. They must remember 
that God may at one time use a rod and the next 
time a jaw-bone and still later use a "smooth 
stone." It would be too monotonous for Him to use 
the rod in every case. It is true, He rarely ever con- 
descends to use hig methods^ big croivds, high-toned 
people and great and ivonderful things. The reason 
for this, however, may be because He is so great and 
wonderful Himself. He also seems to take a spe- 
cial delight in using small, common, awkward, ob- 

[51] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



tuse and contemptible persons; especially those 
who appear to be so in their own eyes. 

3. A third thought brought to light here, is how 
quickly God can sever the cords of human affection, 
cravings for companionship and creature consola- 
tions, especially when they interfere with His plan 
and the salvation of souls. No one would have be- 
lieved that these cows would voluntarily turn their 
backs on their bleating young and travel so freely 
in the opposite direction. The fire of God in a hu- 
man soul will cause him to gladly turn his back on 
home, loved ones and friends, and go to the ends of 
the earth, if need be, to rescue precious souls. 

E'en tho' the field lie far from home, 
O'er mountain peak and ocean foam, 
Where serpents hiss and tigers roam, 
I'll gladly go ; just give me souls. 

4. The next helpful lesson suggested through 
the cows carrying the ark of God is this : God calls 
not only men and unmarried women to carry the 
gospel, but sometimes calls also those with families. 
The prophecy of Joel still holds good even in the 
present dispensation, when the ministry of women 
is being so greatly opposed (Joel 2:28). 

5. This beautiful story does not only contain 
a fertilizer for faith and courage, but also warns the 
children of God in brief to beware of yielding to the 
spirit of curiosity and irrevei^ence. The men of 
Beth-shemesh had not the slightest idea that their 
hurried look into the ark would be rewarded with 
such severe judgment. Oh, how many times the pur- 

[52] 



THE LOWING KINE 



pose of God has been thwarted and hundreds of 
souls sent down to the flames on account of God's 
people foolishly yielding to the spirit of curi- 
osity. This was the chief instrument in the hands 
of the devil with which he overthrew Mother Eve, 
turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt and moved 
King David to number Israel. The blighting bane 
of curiosity has dwarfed the growth of many a pre- 
cious soul and withered their grapes of joy. 



[53] 



XII 
DAVID'S LION AND BEAE 

"And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his 
father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took 
a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and 
smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth : and when he 
rose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, 
and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear" 
(1 Sam. 17:34-36). 

David's combat with the lion and bear strikingly 
prefigures the two great spiritual conflicts that 
every son and daughter of Adam must wage before 
inheriting the kingly throne and the crown of life. 
The story at first sight, to casual readers, leaves the 
impression that he slew both the lion and the bear 
at the same time, but it is not so. If we were al- 
lowed to modernize the statement of David here, it 
would read as follows : ^^A lion came upon my flock, 
and seized a lamb ; I ran after him, he attacked me, 
I seized hold of him by his shaggy locks, smote and 
slew him, and delivered the lamb. A bear came in 
the same way, and I attacked and slew him." 

Let us now proceed to make the spiritual appli- 
cation. The lion here would represent the devil 
who goeth to and fro in the land, not only to mis- 
lead and frighten, but also to destroy every son and 
daughter of Adam. David overcoming and slaying 
him typifies the victory Jesus gives over Satan and 

[54] 



DAVID'S LION AND BEAK 



sin to every believer at conversion. John said, ^'This 
is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith.'' This victory is not to be spasmodic or tem- 
porary, but permanent. This fact is evidenced by 
the death of the lion. It was not only wounded and 
captured, but slain. The victory gained at conver- 
sion over the world, the flesh and the devil, by be- 
lievers need never be lost. 

David did not stop at slaying a lion, but declares 
that he slew a bear also. The reader will please 
notice that there is a vast difference between the dis- 
position and nature of these two animals. While 
the lion nature strikingly represents the workings 
of Satan in the heart and life of the unsaved, the 
J)ear nature represents the carnal mind, namely, car- 
nality. 

Let us now notice some of the many ways in 
which the disposition of a bear and the inclination 
of carnality are quite similar. 

1. The bear resembles carnality in the way it 
hugs and squeezes its victim to death. A bear will 
hug a man until he drops upon the ground as limp 
as a rag. Just so will carnality, in the heart of a 
believer, if not gotten rid of. It will gradually 
crush out of them all of the spiritual life and cause 
them to die without a squeal, or an external wound. 

2. A second way in which a bear strikingly re- 
sembles carnality is in the way it can abstain from 
food. It is reported that a bear can live the whole 
winter through without any food. Whether this be 
true or false, we know, however, that carnality can 

[55] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



exist for years on an occasional bit of commenda- 
tion, eulogy and piiblic notice. It is like the ants, 
who live many months on crumbs. 

3. The bear also resembles carnality in the way 
it grips its victim with its teeth. The writer once 
heard of a bear growing angry and gripping the 
keeper with its teeth, and rather than release its 
hold tore the flesh right off his limb. Every per- 
son who has ever sought the experience of holiness 
has realized to some extent how tenaciously anger, 
pride, jealousy, self-love, self-will and other traits 
of carnality hold on to the soul. It generally re- 
quires a mighty siege of fasting, praying and dying 
out to break their hold. It required about ten days 
for the disciples to shake out and off these spiritual 
bears. 

4. A final way in which bears resemble this 
subtle foe, is in being so hard to kill. It was re- 
marked by huntsmen years ago, that a bear could 
stand almost any amount of shots in the body. The 
only successful way of killing it is to shoot it di- 
rectly in the head. How true this is when applied 
to the old man! There seems to be absolutely no 
other way of putting him to death but by dealing 
the death-blow upon the head. ^The seed of the 
woman shall bruise the serpent's head." 



[56] 



XIII 
THE OX 

"As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the 
face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side : and 
they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four 
also had the face of an eagle" (Ezek. 1 : 10). 

In the above text and also many other places in 
the Word of God the ox is used to prefigure some of 
the various graces that were to characterize the life 
of the Pentecostal Christians. In the following lines 
I wish to call the reader's attention to some of these 
graces by way of paraphrasing the character and 
conduct of the ox. 

1. The first noticeable one of these excellent 
qualities is this: the ox is always ready for sacri- 
fice or service, night and day, without manifesting 
the least degree of resistance. It does not shirk or 
shift duty onto its fellow ox, but is always ready 
to take its own place and bear its own burden. 

2. The next excellent quality seen in the ox is 
in the fact that it is so easily cared for. It is 
much easier to keep three oxen than one horse, for 
the following reason : The horse has to be grained, 
strawed, led to water, curried, shod and supplied 
with harness; while the ox can be worked all day 
and turned into the pasture at night for its sup- 
per. It would be a fine thing if some evangelists, 
preachers and religious workers would take a few 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



lessons from the ox at this point, and learn how to 
avoid being a nuisance and being so hard to enter- 
tain in the various homes in which they stop. 

3. The next quality seen in the ox, which we 
consider well worthy of being imitated, is as fol- 
lows: The ox is not fractious, impatient or given 
to kicking, pawing and biting, but is gentle, docile, 
kind and obedient. Neither is it balky or spas- 
modic, but pulls steadily and evenly in the yoke. 
Some people are willing to bear responsibility for 
a while, provided it does not continue too long. 
There are others who have frequent spells of ialTc- 
ing^ looking iack^ kicking up and running away. 

4. Still another commendable characteristic 
seen in the ox is this: it is not given to prancing, 
skipping around and flurrying, like a self-conceited 
horse, but steps softly^ carefully and surely. There- 
fore, for this reason, the ox rarely ever slips, loses 
its foothold or falls to the ground. People who step 
carefully^ surely and prayerfully^ rarely ever back- 
slide. 

5. Again, when the burden becomes unusually 
heavy, or a steep hill is to be surmounted, rather 
than balk or kick out of the yoke, the ox is said to 
go quietly to its knees and make a greater effort 
than ever to move the load and surmount the hill. 
Eeader, have you learned to do likewise when the 
burdens of life are heavy? 



[58] 



XIV 
THE HEED OF SWINE 

"But when he [the man with an unclean spirit] saw Je- 
sus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him, And cried with 
a loud voice, and said, What have I to do Wftth Thee, Jesus, 
Thou Son of the most high God? I adjure Thee by God, that 
Thou torment me not. (For He said unto him, Come out of 
the man, thou unclean spirit.) And He asked him, What is 
thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: 
for we are many. And he besought Him much that He would 
not send them away out of the country. Now there was 
there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feed- 
ing. And all the devils besought Him, saying, Send us into 
the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith 
Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, 
and entered into the swine ; and the herd ran violently down 
a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand,) 
and were choked in the sea" (Mark 5:6-13). 

Some teachers insist that the truth taught here 
is that the devil is still in swine flesh, and therefore 
it is not to be eaten. Let this be as it may, we must 
all frankly admit that it is unwholesome as well as 
unhealthy. 

From the writer's view-point the lesson con- 
tains a deeper truth than simply forbidding the use 
of swine flesh. 

It is to be borne in mind that the swine in many 
places in the Word of God is used to prefigure sin 
and moral pollution. Therefore, in viewing the les- 

[59] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



son from this standpoint we have made the follow- 
ing discoveries: 

1. The first helpful thought suggested through 
this incident is this: all devils and unclean spirits 
are in perfect subjection to the Son of God, and can 
not even molest the most insignificant creature 
upon the earth without first getting the Savior's 
permission. The devil could not touch Job or his 
possessions without obtaining permission from God. 
Neither can he harm any of God's little ones to-day 
without first getting His consent. 

2. The next fact revealed in the lesson is as 
follows: Satan is such a helpless and defeated foe 
in God's universe that he can not propagate a sin- 
gle sin, unless he can first get some rational or irra- 
tional creature (though ever so small) to co-operate 
with him by giving him embodiment and allowing 
him to carry on his destructive work through them. 
He was unable to harm the holy pair in Eden until 
he found lodgment in the serpent. The question 
may arise here: Why did the Savior thus give the 
devils permission to enter the swine when He knew 
they were pow^erless to do harm without embodi- 
ment? He no doubt permitted it to teach us the 
lesson which I have just mentioned; so that we 
might be aroused to more steadfastly resist him. 
He could not have used a more useless creature with 
which to teach us this lesson than a hog. He here 
used the swine, just as the housewife sometimes, in 
distributing rat poison, uses the most useless tin 
plate she has. 

[60] 



THE HEED OF SWINE 



3. The lesson also informs us of the great ca- 
pacity of the human heart for retaining good or eviL 
Who would believe that one unconverted man^s 
heart contained enough devils to drive two thousand 
hogs frantic? Is it any marvel that the prophet 
made the following remark: ^^The heart is deceitful 
above all things, and desperately wicked: who can 
know itr (Jer. 17:9). 

4. This lesson also strikingly suggests the 
downward course in which Satan and sin leads 
fallen man. They lead him from the image of God 
to the level of the lowest of animals, and on from 
the brute plane over the precipice into hell. 

5. Finally, the devils and the swine plunging 
headlong into the sea, fittingly typifies the purifica- 
tion of the earth and the final overthrow of Satan 
and his subjects in the lake of fire and brimstone. 
The reader will please notice how perfectly the 
Scripture harmonizes with this thought. ^^And the 
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of 
fire and brimstone, where the beast and false 
prophets are, and shall be tormented day and night 
for ever and ever. * * * And death and hell were 
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 
And whosoever was not found written in the book 
of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Kev. 20 : 14, 
15). "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the 
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and 
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have 
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and 
brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev. 21:8). 

[61] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



Oh, what a description of the countless human 
swine that are now grazing upon the earth! 

Matthew 25 : 41 gives us a brief description of 
how the Savior will send away this wicked throng 
from His presence, light, joy and love, just as He 
sent away the devils. 



[62] 



XV 

THE TIED COLT 

"And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Beth- 
phage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, He sendeth 
forth two of His disciples, And saith unto them, Go your 
way into the village over against you : and as soon as ye be 
entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man 
sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto 
you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of 
him; and straightway he will send him hither. And they 
went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without 
in a place where two ways met ; and they loose him" (Mark 
11:1-4). 

This short narrative contains so many beautiful 
thoughts that we can not here insert them all, but 
will hurriedly mention a few of those which we con- 
sider most worthy of attention, 

1. The first thought suggested through the tied 
colt is as follows: It fittingly represents the point 
where every sinner in the world stands to-day; 
namely, at a place where two ways meet. No mat- 
ter how far out on sin's mountain they have wan- 
dered, or how deeply dyed with guilt they may be, it 
is still in their power, and at their option, to choose 
one or the other of these ^Svays;'' either the nar- 
row way that leads to heaven, or the broad way that 
leads to hell. Every unsaved soul in the world, no 
matter how rich, poor, high, low, moral or vile, is 
daily standing at the fork of these two roads. 

[63] 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



Reader, decide to-day which one you will take, for 
to-morrow may never come. 

2. The lesson not only shows us where the sin- 
ner stands, but also reveals his deplorable condition. 
It says, ^^The colt was tied.^^ Unsaved reader, you 
may feel free, act free and make your boasts of be- 
ing free, nevertheless, you are tightly bound with 
chains of sin, habit and unnatural appetites. It is 
true you may frequently make new resolutions, but 
despite all of your efforts to master your de- 
praved appetites and passions each ensuing year 
finds you still tied at the fork of the roads. 

3. The next thought suggested here is this: at 
the command of the Lord Jesus Christ the long 
bound captive may be set free. It matters not with 
what he may be bound, or how many years he has 
been bound. At Christ's command the sinner can 
instantly be made ^^free indeed/^ 

4. These beautiful words, ^'The Lord hath need 
of him,'^ should be a source of encouragement to 
every sinner and backslider upon earth. Satan 
often suggests to these unfortunate ones that they 
have sinned away the day of grace and passed the 
boundary line of mercy and pardon, but the text 
says, "The Lord hath need of him.'' Reader, this 
includes you. It does not matter how vile you have 
been or how ignorant and worthless you may be at 
present, the Master can loose you, spread the gar- 
ment of righteousness upon you and use you in His 
vineyard and whitening fields. Oh, will you at this 
moment give Him a chance? Think for a moment 



[64] 



THE TIED COLT 



upon these beautiful words, '^God so loved the world, 
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever- 
lasting life. For God sent not His Son into the 
world to condemn the world; but that the world 
through Him might be saved'' (John 3: 16, 17). 

5. The last thought suggested here, through the 
disciples loosing an tmJcnown man^s colt, is as fol- 
lows: Soul winners are authorized by the King of 
kings to loose sinners anywhere, everywhere and at 
all times, whenever the opportunity presents itself, 
and God will take care of the results. The command 
of the Savior is, ^"Go out into the highways and 
hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house 
may be filled'^ (Luke 14:23). The apostle Jude 
said, "And of some have compassion, making a dif- 
ference: And others save with fear, pulling them out 
of the fire'' (Jude 22,23). 



[65] 



XVI 

THE STEAYING SHEEP 

"All we like slieep have gone astray" (Isa. 53:6). 

The prophet here likens the whole human race 
to straying sheep. Why did he not compare them 
to straying horses, straying cows, or other animals? 
How^ever, should he have done so his parable would 
have lost its significance. For there is something 
in the conduct of straying sheep which is quite dif- 
ferent to that of any other animal. 

Let us briefly notice some of the strange actions 
of a sheep w^hen going astray that are quite differ- 
ent from the conduct of any other animal, and yet, 
strikingly similar to a straying human soul. 

1. If a horse, cow, dog or cat should stray from 
home, it would more than likely find its way 
back again. It is said that if a man while riding or 
driving a horse should lose his way, all he has to do 
is to slacken the reins and the horse wall lead the 
way home. It is not so with a sheep, for it becomes 
so bewdldered that it would wander forever and 
never find its way home again. Is this not a strik- 
ing picture of the sinner straying from God? Ex- 
cept the Good Shepherd, who came to seek and save 
that which was lost, overtake and rescue him, he will 
stray forever. 

2. The straying sheep not only becomes too dull 

[66] 



THE STEAYING SHEEP 



and bewildered to find its way home, but will wan- 
der farther and farther into the dark and tangled 
wilderness. Oh, think of the many once innocent 
boys and girls, who gradually began to stray from 
home, the Sabbath-school, the church and parental 
advice, and who are to-day far away in the gloomy 
wilderness of sin. 

You're drifting from God, drifting from God, 
From purity, heaven and Jesus my Lord : 

You're drifting from God, drifting from God, 
Far, far away on sin's ocean broad. 

3. It is said that a sheep w^hen lost will not lie 
down and rest like other animals, but will continue 
to push its way with increasing speed on through 
the mire, muck and tangle until it falls exhausted 
upon the ground. 

Think ! In spite of all the prayers, tears, preach- 
ing and advice of Christians, also the wooing and 
pleading of the Holy Ghost, the thoughtless sinner 
rushes on farther and farther into the wilderness of 
sin until he falls exhausted upon a bed of alSfliction. 
The Good Shepherd has overtaken and rescued mil- 
lions of His straying sheep in this damp, gloomy 
valley, 

4. A final thought connected with a bewildered, 
frightened sheep in a wilderness is the fact that it 
offers no resistance whatever when attacked by 
some vicious beast. A horse, cow or dog will resent 
the foe, but a sheep will send up a volley of pitiful 
cries and yield to be slain. It is astonishing how 
freely and unresistingly the sinner yields himself to 

[67] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



Satan to be bound hand and foot, and led away to a 
lake of fire and brimstone. 

'*A great fold stands with its portals wide, 
The sheep astray on the mountain side, 
The Shepherd climbs o'er mountain steep, 
He's searching now for His wandering sheep. 

"Then, why will ye die? 

Oh! why will ye die? 

When the Shepherd's fold is so near by? 

Oh! why will ye die?" 



[68] 



XVII 
"DOGS EAT THE CEUMBS" 

"And from thence He arose, and went into the borders of 
Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have 
no man know it: but He could not be hid. For a certain 
woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard 
of Him, and came and fell at His feet : The woman was a 
Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought Him 
that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 
But Jesus said unto her. Let the children first be filled : for 
it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it 
unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto Him, Yes, 
Lord: Yet the dogs under the taUe eat of the children's 
crumbs. And He said unto her. Fob this saying go thy 
way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter" (Mark 7 : 24-29). 

If we were to search the Bible through from 
cover to cover we would hardly find a more striking 
lesson on humility than this. Many, nowadays, on 
being called a dog by an entire stranger, would con- 
sider it a gross insult and walk away. But this 
woman instead of allowing pride to thwart her 
errand, rather gave place to humility and stooped 
lower still. Her great humility affected the Savior 
more than a thousand half-hearted, Pharisaical 
prayers. It, no doubt, pierced His great heart of 
love and sympathy like a dozen arrow^s. 

Among the many classes of people with whom 
the Savior came in contact while upon earth, shar- 
ing their burdens and sorrows, were three Individ- 

[69] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



uals whose faith and humility surpassed that of any 
others recorded in the New Testament. The cir- 
cumstances, too, under which they were brought to 
public notice were among the most pathetic, heart- 
touching scenes ever beheld by mortal eye. 

Let us briefly look them over, and the reader can 
then decide more fully as to whether the above state- 
ment is true. The first one of these remarkable 
characters of which we write, was that poorly clad, 
lonely, hunger-bitten widow, who one day in the 
temple when the Lord's ofifering was being taken, 
threw in all the living that she had. Notice how the 
passage reads : ^^And He looked up, and saw the rich 
men casting in their gifts into the treasury. And 
He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither 
two mites. And He said. Of a truth, I say unto you, 
that this poor widow hath cast in more than they 
all: For all these have of their abundance cast in 
unto the offerings of God : but she of her penury hath 
cast in all the living that she had" (Luke 21: 1-4). 

The next one of these characters was that poor 
woman who for twelve long years had lain beneath 
the steady grind of disease, she who had spent all 
of her living upon physicians and was no better. 
Oh, see that faint, disease-ridden, worn and weary 
soul pressing her way through the crowd, and 
making a final attempt to free herself from the iron 
hand of disease, which for many years had held her 
fast. Lo, she stretches forth her trembling, bony 
hand with hope and confidence and touches the Sa- 
vior's garment and instantly is made whole. 

[70] 



^^DOGS EAT THE CRUMBS' 



Shall we now reflect and see what inspiration 
had to say about this heart-touching, pathetic 
scene? ^^And when the woman saw that she was not 
hid, she came trembling, and falling down before 
Him [Oh, what humility!], she declared unto Him 
before all the people for what cause she had touched 
Him, and how she was healed immediately. And 
He said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort : thy 
faith hath made thee whole; go in peace" (Luke 8: 
47, 48). Figuratively speaking this is a case where 
faith and humility^ combined in a human soul, as- 
tonished infinite wisdom. 

The third individual who has a share in this im- 
mortal honor, and who was worthy of a place among 
heaven's queens of humility, is the Syrophenician 
woman, who refused to become insulted over being 
called a dog, but assented to it by saying, ^-True, 
Lord'' (Matt. 15:27), and thus humbled herself 
still more. The Savior who was infinite in wisdom 
knew that she was in possession of this almost un- 
paralleled degree of humility, but He used this 
strange circumstance to exhibit it to the world so 
that mortals in all ages might seek to obtain this 
wondrous grace. 

Now, since the Lord Jesus used the dog parable 
to sound the depth of her humility, let us briefly 
turn our attention upon a dog under the table gath- 
ering up crumbs. 

1. The first fact connected with him in his hum- 
ble position is, he is at the feet of every one present. 
Reader, have you anything like this in your dispo- 

[71] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



sition? Are you struggling to climh higher or dig 
deeper? 

2. The dog does not demand the crumbs or do 
any dictating but, with great patience, silently 
waits upon providence to send the crumbs his way. 
^^Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the 
coming of the Lord draweth nigh.'' 

3. It matters not how thickly or rapidly the 
crumbs may fall, the dog does not grow proud and 
self-conceited. Notwithstanding all favors con- 
ferred upon him, he does not get out of his place, 
but is still satisfied to be a dog. Success and pros- 
perity do not puff him up, neither do slights, neg- 
lects or misusages change his nature. After all hap- 
pens that can happen in both the success and the 
failure w^orlds, he still feels unworthy, and but a 
dog. Eeader, is this dog more human in his actions 
than you, and are you more doggish in your prin- 
ciples than he? 



[72] 



XVIII 
THE CHAMELEON (Lev. 11:30) 

The conduct and disposition of this peculiar lit- 
tle animal, when spiritually applied, is such a per- 
fect picture of some of the religious people whom we 
have met that this little volume would not be com- 
plete without giving at least a brief description of 
them. 

We will first mention some of its most attractive 
features and then make the application. 

1. The chameleon has a soft, knobby skin, and 
the familiar power of changing in color. Under the 
outer skin are two layers of cells holding coloring 
matter, the outer light yellow, the inner brown to 
black. These cells are controlled by the animal's 
nerves, and at will can be made to change places 
and the cells next to the skin expand, and thus the 
color changes. If it should rest upon a green bush, 
it will change to a greenish color, and if it chances 
to lodge upon a brown or reddish colored bush, it 
will immediately assume these colors. The reader 
has no doubt met some of these creatures in human 
form, who not only jump from one church or denom- 
ination to another, but also change views, beliefs and 
religions every time they jump. When among Meth- 
odists they were Methodist, when among Baptists 
they were Baptist, when among Come-outers they 

[73] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



were Come-outers^ and v/hen among devils, they 
were devils. 

2. A second noticeable feature in the make-up 
of this animal is, it has a long worm-like, insect- 
catching tongue w^hich can be thrust out like a dart, 
and which is the most active part of the animal. 
Equally so is it with the human chameleons, they 
are usually quite active with the tongue on almost 
any subject, especially ^^meddling with other men's 
matters." They are strong talkers on religious sub- 
jects but quite deficient when it comes to living the 
life. 

3. The tongue of the chameleon is club-shaped 
at the end and covered with a sticky fluid with 
which it unerringly catches its prey at a distance of 
several inches. The tongue of the human chameleon 
is also covered with an oily, sugarish flavor with 
which he captivates, deceives and misleads immortal 
souls. His eloquent language, wide experience and 
great learning make him all the more dangerous. 

4. Its large side eyes, with round lids, leaving 
only a small opening, are also very active, and can 
be quickly turned every w^ay. No doubt, the reason 
why the human chameleon jumps so frequently from 
mission to mission, church to church, and confer- 
ence to conference, is because its eyes are larger 
than its heart. All it seems to see as it jumps from 
place to place are the faults, failures and shortcom- 
ings of its brethren. It does not seem to be in pos- 
session of an ounce of kindness, sympathy or 
brotherly love, neither does it give its brethren 

[74] 



THE CHAMELEON 



credit for having any good traits of character what- 
ever. 

5. The little animal of which we are now read- 
ing also has large lungs, so that it can puff out its 
body into marked plumpness. The human cha- 
meleon, too, has a unique way of making people 
believe he is spiritually fat, by giving them an oc- 
casional baptism of nice, high-sounding, windy 
words. He also has the art of speaking in a 
touching, appealing, pathetic manner, so as to make 
his hearers believe he is blest, melted and moved 
upon by the Spirit of God. 

6. Again, the animal's habit of thus blowing it- 
self out, taken along with its power of fasting, gave 
rise to the old belief that it fed on air. Whether 
this be true or false, we know not, but one thing we 
do know, and that is this, its human posterity live 
largely upon air; that is, upon the windy, unsub- 
stantial arguments of carnal-minded men. 



[75] 



XIX 

THE PEEPAEED WOEM 

''But God prepared a ivorm when the morning rose the 
next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it 
came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a 
vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of 
Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and 
said. It is better for me to die than to live" (Jonah 4: 7, 8). 

The book of Jonah is short, we admit; however, 
it is brimful of spiritual lessons. The prayerful, 
studious reader wall find in it many a spiritual nug- 
get of gold. 

In meditating upon the life of Jonah some time 
ago, the writer w^as much impressed with the four 
preparatory courses w^hich God took him through 
before conferring upon him the immortal honor of 
conducting the greatest revival of all ages. These 
courses were given, no doubt, to root, ground and 
prepare him for the coming tidal wave of honor and 
criticism, which w^as as wade as the world and as 
long as time. If the religious workers of the pres- 
ent day had more hardships and difficulties to sur- 
mount in the earlier part of their Christian experi- 
ence, ihej w^ould not be so easily capsized by the 
wands of success and public favor. A person who 
suddenly becomes prominent in spiritual work, 
wathout first having at least some degree of hard- 
ships, is similar to one who suddenly comes into 

[76] 



THE PEEPAEED WOEM 



possession of a fortune. The sudden cloudburst of 
worldly glory is likely to sweep him off his feet. 
Whereas, if he should have begun at the bottom 
of the ladder and come up gradually through labor, 
tears and toil, he would be more prepared to 
weather the storm. 

The first preparation made for Jonah by the 
Father of lights will be found in the seventeenth 
verse of the first chapter. It reads as follows: 
^^Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow 
up Jonah.'' This was, indeed, a strange ordeal, and 
yet nothing less than this would have placed Jonah 
in divine order on the streets of Nineveh. Often 
times, the things w^e consider misfortunes are noth- 
ing more or less than the whale of providence, sent 
to carry us to Nineveh, the divinely-appointed field 
of duty. Eeader, are you having numberless misfor- 
tunes, accidents and mishaps along the highways of 
life? If so, look about you and see if you are not 
on the road that leads to Tarshish rather than Nine- 
veh. 

The second preparation made by God for the 
prophet will be found in the fourth chapter and 
sixth verse. It reads as follows : ^' And the Lord 
God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over 
Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to 
deliver him from his grief." There is a world of 
truth contained in this verse. The first lesson 
brought to us by the vine and sJiadow is that all of 
our temporal blessings, such as food, raiment, 
wealth, homes, etc., are as unsubstantial and tem- 

[77] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



porary as a shadow. The vine at this point repre- 
sents all of the temporary blessings which God has 
provided for the comfort of man. The lesson also 
reveals to us the fact, how quickly our hearts may 
be turned from God and become attached to the 
perishable things of life. Who would have imagined 
that Jonah would become attached in so short time 
to such a trivial thing as a vine? I repeat it, this 
lesson shows us all how quickly the things of earth 
wall turn our hearts from God. Along this line the 
path to heaven is paved with spiritual wrecks. We 
shall never forget the pathetic words of the apostle 
Paul addressed to Timothy during his last im- 
prisonment. They are as follows : ^^Demas hath for- 
saken me, having loved this present world, and is 
departed unto Thessalonica.'^ Again he writes, 
^^O man of God, flee these things; and follow after 
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meek- 
ness.'^ 

The third and fourth preparations which God 
made for the prophet will be found in the fourth 
chapter in the seventh and eighth verses. These are 
the ones especially which seemed to be such a trial 
to Jonah, but after all proved to be the greatest 
revelation of God's mercy. 

The first effect the worm had upon Jonah was to 
cause him to again fix his attention and affections 
upon God. He had become so taken up with the 
gourd vine that he got his eyes off God. There- 
fore, instead of the worm doing him an injustice by 
destroying the vine, it had done him a great favor. 

[78] 



THE PEEPAEED WOEM 



This is often the case nowadays with many of God's 
children when He permits the winds of financial 
success to blow their way. They become so taken 
up with the new home, the piano, the auto, and their 
dividends that in order to prevent their going sud- 
denly into an idolater's hell, God sends the worm of 
misfortune to quickly destroy the vine. 

The next valuable lesson to which the prophet's 
eyes were opened by the worm and wind, was the 
boundless love of God. This little circumstance 
awakened Jonah to the fact that God's love for hu- 
manity far surpassed that which he professed to 
have. The mirror of God's unbounded love reflected 
Jonah's real condition and showed him that he had 
more love for his reputation than he had for the 
souls of 'NineveWs lost thousands. Where God 
wanted to save the people because they were re- 
penting, Jonah wanted to destroy them to prevent 
them losing confidence in him and branding him as 
a liar. 

A final lesson we are taught here is this: no 
matter how great a sinner we may be, or how se- 
vere the temporal judgment God has pronounced 
upon us, if we will repent and humble ourselves in 
the dust before Him, He will turn from His fierce 
anger and bestow upon us a blessing. "The Lord 
will not always chide neither will He keep His 
anger for ever." 



[79] 



XX 

ELIJAH'S RAVEN 

*'And the word of tlie Lord came unto him [Elijah], say- 
ing, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thy- 
self by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it 
shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have 
commanded the ravens to feed thee there" (1 Kings 17: 2-4). 

Our attention is again called to some more of 
the hitherto unexplored resources of Jehovah. Be- 
fore this we have been hearing of how He fed the 
children of Israel for forty years in the wilderness 
with bread from heaven, gave them w^ater out of a 
flint rock, and caused their wearing apparel to last 
forty years, but in this chapter w^e have made a dis- 
covery. Doubtless, it would not have been diflScult 
for Elijah to readily believe that God some times 
prompted His people to administer to the wants of 
His children, but it never once entered his mind 
that God was so concerned about him, away off in 
that barren land, that He would commission a raven 
to come and supply his daily needs. 

Reader, let us carefully study this story and see 
what light and truth it may contain for us. 

1. The first lesson that comes to the surface is 
this: it assures us of the fact that no matter how 
destitute our circumstances or how far away from 
home and friends we may be, or how difficult it may 
be to reach us, God always has a way of sending us 

[80] 



ELIJAH'S KAVEN 



relief. When Abraham was far away from home 
and friends, and greatly in need of a ram to sacri- 
fice, God called his attention to one caught by the 
horns in a thicket. When Samson was famishing 
for water, God opened up a spring in a jawbone 
to quench his thirst. When Peter was greatly con- 
cerned about ^^tribute money/' the Savior did not 
send him to the bank, but to the sea to get it out 
of the mouth of a fish. O reader, think of the unex- 
plored territory in the field of faith, and also the 
numberless undiscovered resources of the great God ! 
Let us never again question or doubt Him. 

2. The next thing worthy of our attention in 
the lesson is the humility and submission of the 
prophet. Should he have been proud, prejudiced 
and hard to please, he would not have accepted the 
food from the raven. But his great humility caused 
him to thankfully receive it, even though it was de- 
livered in a common manner. There are people to- 
day, like Naaman of old, who are willing to be 
saved, healed or blest only in their own church, and 
only in their own way. But God wants His chil- 
dren clothed with that degree of humility that will 
enable them to accept food from a raven and lap 
water from a humble stream. 

3. This narration also teaches us that preachers 
and religious workers who are devoting their entire 
time to spiritual work should not, as a general 
thing, eat more than two meals a day. The lesson 
says, ^^The ravens brought him bread and flesh in 
the morning J and bread and flesh in the evening^'' 

[Sll 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



(1 Kings 17:6). There are but few workers who 
have discovered the fact that overeating is no small 
hindrance to spirituality. It beclouds the mind, be- 
gets sluggishness, feeds passion, fetters the spirit, 
dwarfs the soul and hinders it from daily mounting 
on the wings of prayer and faith. 

4. The next thought that impresses the writer 
in this lesson is the promptness and punctuality of 
the ravens in performing their divinely-appointed 
duty. Verse six infers that the meals were served 
on time, namely, morning and evening. Their punc- 
tuality will no doubt be quite a reproof to some of 
our good brothers and sisters who perform the work 
of the Lord in a careless, slipshod way, at least it 
should be. They are behind in nearly every thing 
they undertake. When the time comes to go to 
church they are not ready. When the time comes 
to pay their dues, they are not ready. When the 
time comes to send their missionary offering, they 
are not ready, and when the time comes to go to 
camp-meeting they are still not ready. I wonder if 
they will be ready when the time comes to die. 



[82] 



XXI 

THE EAGLE'S NEST 

"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her 
young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth 
them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and 
there was no strange god with him'* (Deut. 32:11,12). 

Since the eagle is used so frequently in the 
Scriptures as an object lesson for the children of 
God, my purpose in this chapter shall be to closely 
study its disposition and character, and then make 
a few spiritual applications. 

The first thing regarding the eagle's conduct 
that is worthy of imitation is, it does not take 
chances by building its nest on movable things. It 
does not build in sheds, barns, shrubs and trees like 
other birds, but flies away to the mountain peak and 
there builds upon the crag of the rock (Job. 39 : 28). 
Oh, that men would be equally wise and not risk 
their immortal souls by building upon such movable 
things as wealth, honor, fame and false religion! 
In the hour of death, Mr. Vanderbilt, wath his mul- 
tiplied millions, awoke to the sad fact that he had 
built for eternity upon the quicksand of w^orldly 
gain. Jesus said, ^^Whosoever heareth these say- 
ings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto 
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock : 
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and 

[S3] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it 
fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And 
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and 
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, 
which built his house upon the sand : And the rain 
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, 
and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great 
,was the fall of it'' (Matt 7:24). 

Second. The eagle, too, has a high regard for 
the 'brightest light and clearest place. It has no 
relish for darkness or shadows, but insists upon liv- 
ing where all is clear. Dark clouds must not get 
between it and the sun. It is said that the eagle 
beholds the sun with open eye, and such of its 
young as through weakness of sight can not behold 
the sun, the eagle rejects as unnatural. According 
to the testimony of the Lord Jesus ages ago, there is 
quite a contrast between the eagle and some peo- 
ple, for He said, ^^Men loved darkness rather than 
light,'^ and then proceeded to give the reason why, 
^^because their deeds were evil.'' 

Third. The eagle is also noted for its keen eye. 
It sights the foe miles away and keeps out of reach. 
God also wants His people to be shrewd and eagle- 
eyed so as to spy sin at a distance and shun it as a 
deadly poison. Jesus said, ^What I say unto you 
I say unto all. Watch." 

A fourth commendable feature in the conduct of 
the eagle is its shrewdness in going for prey. It 
generally goes about noon, when men have gone 
home to dinner and shepherds have slackened their 

[84] 



THE EAGLE'S NEST 



vigil. The eagle at this time darts down, seizes a 
lamb or kid, and hurriedly flies away to the moun- 
tain. Oh, that men were as wise in winning souls! 
The eagle is also very subtle in capturing its prey, 
for having filled its wings with sand and dust, it 
settles on the horns of great beasts and by its wings 
shakes the dust in their eyes, whereby they become 
an easy prey. How necessary it is for God's peo- 
ple before going out in search of souls to tarry be- 
fore Him in prayer, and get their souls refilled with 
love and power, so that when they come in contact 
with the unsaved they will be captivated and won 
by their Spirit-filled songs, prayers, testimonies and 
sermons. 

Fifth. The next interesting truth in the life of 
the eagle, which is quite similar to the Christian, is 
the existing enmity between the eagle and the 
dragon. The eagle seeks to kill it, and the dragon 
breaks all the eagle eggs it can find, then speedeth 
to its den, and there hides itself. This is too self- 
evident to need any comment. 

Sixth. The eagle is said to preserve its nest 
from poison by having it in a peculiar stone. There 
is no safer way for the child of God to be preserved 
from the poisonous errors that are afloat in the land 
to-day than by keeping the Word of God, not only 
upon the center-table, but in the heart. Paul said, 
^'Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly .'' It 
will surely prove a lamp to our feet and a light to 
our pathway. 

Seventh. It is also said that unless the eagle is 
[85] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



unusually hungry it does not devour all of its prey, 
but leaves a portion for the other birds which fol- 
low. Keader, have you this kind of a disposition or 
have you one similar to the little animal whose name 
is spelled with the following three letters of the 
alphabet — h-o-g? If you have a disposition similar 
to the eagle, you do not defer having lunch or din- 
ner until the unwelcome visitor has gone, neither 
will you leave him in the parlor while first one and 
then another of your family slip out into the din- 
ing-room and eat on the sly. How about that, 
reader ? 

Eighth. The next valuable lesson taught 
through the experience of the eagle is the fact that 
it takes the greatest trial of its life to get it into its 
God-ordained element. When the eagle is young, it 
can only be taught to fly by being rudely thrown out 
of the nest by its mother. Hence, in its desperate 
struggle to keep from falling to the ground, it dis- 
covers the fact that it possesses two little wings 
which are capable of riding upon the wind and 
plowing its way from pole to pole through the track- 
less firmament. Often times the trial or cross which 
we so much dread is the one God wants to use in 
teaching us how to operate the wings of submission 
and trusty and thus rise above the clouds of worldly 
cares. Quite often He tears up the nest of ^^old 
homesteads," ^^thrifty business enterprises," "good- 
paying positions," "well circumstanced" situations, 
"finely fixed" conditions, etc., so as to free us from 
all bondage to the creature and created things, and 

[86] 



THE EAGLE'S NEST 



places us where we can live the life of heaven on 
earth. 

Ninth. It requires constant opposition to keep 
the eagle above the clouds in a clear sky. If it were 
not for the wind opposing the eagle's every stroke, 
it would never be able to surmount the clouds and 
live beneath the meridian smile of the king of day. 
So it is with the child of God, it requires a certain 
amount of opposition and hardship to cause him to 
mount up on the wings of prayer and faith and 
abide in a crystalline sky. 

"They flourish in fire, on the floods mount the higher, 
Who are trusting in Jesus, their King." 



[87] 



XXII 
ABEAHAM'S ^ BIEDS OF PREY'' 

"And He said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee 
out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit 
it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I 
shall inherit it? And He said unto him, Take me a heifer 
of three years old, and a she goat of three years old. 
and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young 
pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them 
in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but 
the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down 
upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away" (Gen. 15: 
7-11). 

In this chapter we have one of the most accurate 
descriptions to be found in the Bible of the experi- 
ence and process souls pass through when seeking 
holiness. In the seventeenth chapter of Genesis and 
first verse, Abraham was commanded to walk before 
God, and be perfect, but it appears that he received 
the blessing in the fifteenth chapter. 

Let us briefly notice how perfectly the conditions 
which he had to comply with harmonize with those 
required of seekers of holiness in the present dis- 
pensation. 

1. Abraham was commanded to make a com- 
plete sacrifice. The reader will please notice that 
every animal allowed or commanded to be sacri- 
ficed under the Mosaic law is found in the above list. 

[88] 



ABRAHAM'S ^^BIRDS OF PREY'' 

This complete sacrifice must be made by all who re- 
ceive the ^^burning lamp experience." Moses made 
it when he ^^refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with 
the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of 
sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ 
greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (Heb. 
11:24-26). The disciples made it when they '^left 
alV^ to follow the lowly Nazarene. Saint Paul, too, 
counted all but dross for the excellency of the cross, 
and the fathers of Methodism also left all to follow 
Him whom their souls loved. 

2. Another interesting feature noticeable in the 
conduct of Abraham is this: he not only made a 
complete sacrifice by putting all upon the altar, but 
also remained right by it, drove away the birds of 
prey, and kept them from polluting it. It is aston- 
ishing how manj^ seekers of holiness allow their sac- 
rifice to become polluted and the purpose of God 
thwarted by these annoying ^^birds of prey." These 
^^birds of prey" may well be classed under the fol- 
lowing heads : ^Tear of man that bringeth a snare," 
^^Keeping back part of the price," ^^Looking back at 
burning Sodom," ^^Shirking the cross," ^'Evading 
the plain way," ^'Fearing the call of God." All of 
these thoughts and many more flock around the 
seeker like so many vultures to pollute his sacrifice. 
Sometimes, through neglect, these "^^birds of prey'' 
are allowed to get in and pollute the sacrifice of 
many, even after they have received the blessing. 

Reader, let us stay right by the oftering, rudely 

[89] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



beating them away, until the fire falls and consumes 
the sacrifice. 

The next point of interest connected with Abra- 
ham's experience, which is quite similar to the ex- 
perience of the present-day seeker of holiness, is 
when he passed through the stage of darkness and 
unconsciousness. He not only consecrated and kept 
the birds from polluting his sacrifice, which was his 
part of the work, but also waited until God per- 
formed His part of the work, which was to crucify 
the old man, purify the heart, and baptize with the 
Holy Ghost and fire. This is what every seeker of 
holiness receives when he gets ^^true holiness." But 
the trouble nowadays is this: many are in such a 
great hurry to profess holiness that they place all 
upon the altar by way of consecration, and then even 
while the ^^birds of prey" are in the act of carrying 
away part of the sacrifice, they will arise from the 
altar and claim to be sanctified wholly without ever 
waiting for God to perform any part of His work 
whatever. Is there any marvel that the whole land 
is corrupted with shallow holiness? 



[90] 



XXIII 

THE CKOWING COCK 

*'Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this 
night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice" 
(Matt. 26:34). 

The text is found among those in the Bible which 
sometimes cause the reader's heart to grow heavy 
and his eyes to fill with tears, besides causing a 
feeling of carefulness and precaution to settle down 
upon him, especially when he reflects upon Peter's 
disastrous fall. 

My aim in this chapter shall be to mention a few 
important truths regarding the little fowl upon 
which the Savior has conferred the immortal honor 
of having its name recorded in Holy Writ. 

The reader may be somewhat surprised on being 
told that the cock is one of the strangest and most 
mysterious fowls in the world. Where this may be 
a rather strange statement for city people to ac- 
cept, it will not be so for close-observing country 
people. There are some old-time farmers in the 
country who can tell by the crowing of the cock 
when to expect good or ill news, when to expect 
rain or sunshine, when to expect strange visitors, 
and also when to expect sickness and death in tlie 
family. Let us notice some of the commendable 
characteristics of this mysterious fowl. 

[Oil 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



1. He is a faithful herald throughout the en- 
tire year. No night is too dark, stormy or cold for 
him to herald the news of approaching midnight and 
morn to slumbering mortals. Besides, he keeps up 
a tireless vigil over the house and barnyard through- 
out the livelong day. He has a strange squall with 
which he signals his comrades and owner, too, when 
hawks, crows and eagles are in the vicinity. He 
also notifies his owner with a quick cackle, when 
dogs, minks, woodchucks or strangers are approach- 
ing the yard. 

Eeader, are you as faithful in the performance 
of your divinely-appointed duty in the world as is 
this fowl of which we write? 

2. The next commendable feature in the con- 
duct of the cock is, he is too greatly concerned about 
the performance of his divinely-appointed duty to 
sleep the whole night through, but frequently 
awakes and gives glory to the King Immortal with 
^^songs in the night." Eeader, are you wanting at 
this point? Eemember, Paul and Silas sang and 
gave praises to God at midnight "Oh, how strict 
and self-denying a life was that which the holy 
fathers lived in the desert ! How long and grievous 
were the temptations they endured ! What frequent 
and earnest prayers did they offer up to God ! What 
rigid fasts they kept! What great zeal and fervor 
they had for their spiritual progress ! By day they 
worked, and by night they had long seasons of 
prayer and praise. Nowadays, he is thought to be 
extremely pious who just escapes open sin, or bears 

[92] 



THE CROWING COCK 



patiently his lot in life." Are we stirred to make 
greater effort because of these reminders? 

3. A third praiseworthy characteristic seen in 
the little fowl of which we are writing, is his self- 
forgetfulness. He rarely ever gets fat, owing to be- 
ing so generous and giving nearly every thing to 
others. Whenever he scratches up a bug, worm or 
grain of corn he quickly summons his friends to 
come and enjoy it, while he stands by and looks 
on with delight. It appears from reading the thirty- 
first chapter of Job and the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth verses that Job was also thoroughly cured 
of the cancer of selfishness. Notice how it reads: 
^^If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or 
have caused the eyes of the widow to fail ; or have 
eaten my morsel myself alone^ and the fatherless 
hath not eaten thereof * * * let mine arm fall 
from my shoulder blade.'' 



[93] 



XXIV 
"DEAD FLIES^' 

*'Dead flies cause tlie ointment of the apottiecary to send 
forth a stinking savor : so doth a little folly him that is in 
reputation for wisdom and honor" (Eccl. 10:1). 

What a repulsive picture the Spirit has drawn 
here! and yet^ it is brimful of meaning. There is 
hardly anything with which we come in contact that 
will so quickly curb our appetite, even for the most 
delicious food, as a dead fly. It will instantly trans- 
mute the highest degree of delight into prejudice 
and contempt. 

If we use the picture here drawn as a mirror we 
can readily see how a little lightness^ folly, foolish- 
ness or jesting on the part of a pious person will 
impress and afifect the unsaved. Some religious peo- 
ple have formed the idea that jesting, trifling and 
joking a little with sinners would cause sinners to 
esteem them more highly, but it is a sad mistake. 
It is true, the sinner himself may be given to any 
amount of frivolity and lightness, and yet at the 
same time he will be greatly surprised to find the 
servant of God faulty at the same point. He ex- 
pects to receive reproof from the child of God 
rather than to be encouraged in his frivolous con- 
duct. He is not only disappointed, but also dis- 
gusted when the servant of God acts otherwise. 

[94] 



^^DEAD FLIES' 



Eeader, did you ever stop to think that one light 
word or one frivolous act will kill the effect of the 
best prayer, strongest testimony or most powerful 
sermon? Many a minister has delivered a powerful 
and eflfective sermon, and then killed the whole ef- 
fect by making some light or foolish remark. 

Oh, how careful the people of God should be in 
ordering their conversation aright in their every-day 
lives, and not kill their influence for good with those 
with whom they associate. Many prayer and testi- 
mony meetings have been dry and lifeless because 
the members of the church were engaged in too 
much light talk before they came to the meeting. 
Often times the minister has failed to strike fire in 
his sermon because of the fact that before coming 
to church he acted light and frivolous with the 
young people where he was invited to supper. Oh, 
how many times the precious ointment has been 
spoiled, and a special meeting killed, because of 
some secret or public act of folly in a man or woman 
of God. Hundreds of times the blame for failure 
has been laid upon God when it was due to some 
light or frivolous act on the part of the leaders of 
the meeting. If we would not have the holy oint- 
ment send forth a stinking, repulsive odor, we must 
live careful, watchful and prayerful lives every mo- 
ment, and every where. 

Paul, the apostle, exhorted the Ephesians as 
follows: '^I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, be- 
seech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation 
wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and 

[95] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



meekness, with longsufifering, forebearing one an- 
other in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace'' (Eph. 4: 1,2). 

^^Oh, sacred state of religious service which makes 
a man equal to angels, pleasing to God, terrible to 
devils, and worthy to be commended by all the 
faithful.'^ 



XXV 

THE ANT 

"Go to tlie ant, thou sluggard: consider her ways, and 
be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, pro- 
videth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in 
the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When 
wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?" (Prov. 6:6-9). 

We know not of a more fitting object lesson 
with which to reprove the sluggard than the little 
insect whose name forms the caption of this chap- 
ter. No doubt, the attention of the sluggard is 
called to this little insect with the hope that he 
might reflect, see himself, and reform. 

The reader must not mistake the meaning of the 
wise man here and conclude that he is only referring 
to that class of men who fail to till their fields ; the 
parable means this, we admit, but it also means 
much more. It is to be borne in mind that there are 
two classes of sluggards in the world. One class 
are those who fail to labor for the necessities of 
life, while the other class are those who neglect the 
welfare of their immortal souls. 

Now, since Solomon has especially called our at- 
tention to the ant family, let us closely study their 
nature and various characteristics and see what 
helpful information we can obtain. 

1. The first thought that dawns upon the mind 
of the writer regarding this little family, is as fol- 

[97] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



lows : hundreds of them can live together under one 
roof without pouting^ quarreling^ growing cold and 
distant or -fighting. This phase of their conduct is 
worthy of the attention not only of the sluggard, 
but also of many who profess a high degree of 
Christianity. How about things in your home, 
reader? 

2. Our attention is, no doubt, called to the con- 
duct of the ant family because of their almost un- 
paralleled industry. They are by no means lazy or 
slothful, but exceedingly diligent. In Texas there 
is a kind of farming ant, which is said to plant, cul- 
tivate and harvest a kind of grain. These ants are 
often seen carrying a burden much larger than them- 
selves, and are willing to work night and day. They 
are far from being like some professed Christians 
who do the work of the Lord perfunctorily, and be- 
sides want pay for almost every little thing they do. 
It is to be remembered, however, that people of this 
type are not Christians but hirelings; not sheep, 
but wolves; not doves, but vultures, seeking prey. 

3. The next commendable characteristic pos- 
sessed by the ant, is its unselfish disposition. If it 
finds something good, it does not hide it in a corner 
for its own personal use, but instantly goes and noti- 
fies its fellow laborers. In a very short while hun- 
dreds of its comrades will appear on the scene to 
enjoy the feast. This would surely be a blessed 
world to live in if even all of the church people were 
like the ants in this particular. 

4. The next high-class quality noticeable in the 

[98] 



THE ANT 



conduct of the ant which is worthy of being imi- 
tated, is its serious reflection and forethought of the 
unknown future. The ant does not fail to act while 
it is called to-day ; neither does it neglect, while the 
sun is shining, to prepare for the approaching long, 
bleak winter. Oh, what a rebuke to careless, 
thoughtless sinners who are squandering their 
golden moments in the bypaths of sin and folly! 
Eeader, will the following lines be your death-bed 
testimony? 

"I've missed it at last," he repeated, 
While the shades of despair gathered fast; 

"My hopes are forever defeated, 
I've missed, I've missed it at last ! 

"The thief on the cross I remember, 
Ne'er refused till the summer was past, 

And now in death's chill December 
I've missed, I've missed it at last !" 



im 



XXVI 
THE HONEY BEE 

"And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned 
aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was 
a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion" 
(Judges 14:8). 

It is no marvel that the Lord Jesus has said, 
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see 
God/' for truly, when we get our hearts purified 
and our spiritual eyes opened, we see Him in every- 
thing and every place. 

It is also true, that those whose chief desire is 
to live for God are never lost for an opportunity to 
perform their pious duty, or ever left without help- 
ful instructions along the way. 

Among the many helpful object lessons seen 
as we pass along the highway of life is the busy 
honey-bee. 

Let us notice some features of its conduct that, 
when spiritually applied, greatly resemble the con- 
duct of a child of God. 

1. The first is, the class of food upon which 
the bee is sustained. It does not feed upon herbs, 
as other insects do, but exclusively on honey. So 
it is with the children of God, they can not feed on 
the husks of the world, such as shows, parades, en- 
tertainments, picnics, etc., but must have exclusively 
the honey of spiritual things. 

[100] 



THE HONEY BEE 



2. The next valuable lesson brought to us 
through the conduct of the bee is this : it is impos- 
sible for it to engage in fighting without losing 
something. We are told that whenever it engages in 
a conflict, it always loses its sting. If fighting 
would serve the children of God in a similar way, 
it would be rather commendable, but it works di- 
rectly opposite. For when they engage in brawling, 
contention and strife, they always lose their honey 
and receive in return a poisonous sting. We admit 
they have made excuses for this sting by giving it 
the following names, viz., ^^ firmness/^ ^^positiveness/^ 
^^plainness^^ and being out-spoken^ but nevertheless 
it is the same old sting. 

3* Another amusing fact about the bee which is 
quite similar to the conduct of the people of God, 
at times, is this: whenever the hives become too full 
the bees begin to migrate and swarm. Therefore, 
reader, whenever you see a church split brooding or 
a lot of tempted members applying for their letters, 
you may well conclude that one of two things is 
causing the trouble, the devil has either gotten in 
or the hives are too full. However, it may require a 
few months of close observation to fully determine 
whether the new faction will continue in the honey- 
making business or bite, devour each other, and 
perish. 

4. The next way in which the bee family greatly 
resembles the Christian family is in the fact that 
they continually need a leader. Unless they have 
one, nothing is accomplished. It is true, they may 

[101] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



swarm around and make a lot of noise but will 
never settle down to the honey-making business. It 
would certainly be a great blessing to the church of 
God to-day, if more of our good brothers and sisters 
would come into possession of this knowledge and 
forever refrain from criticizing and opposing the 
ministry — God's appointed leaders. 

5. The bees are frequently robbed of their 
honey is the next truth that is equally suggestive in 
the bee life. This sad misfortune, however, does not 
necessarily afifect the general appearance of the 
hives, bee-yard, etc. The bees, too, may still swarm 
around and go in and out of the hives as they did 
before the honey was taken away. Where is the one 
who has not seen some religious person going to 
and fro in the work of the Lord, trying to keep up 
a good appearance, even after they had been robbed 
of their honey and armed with a sting? 

Eeader, is this your case to-day? 



[102] 



XXVII 
EESULTS OF A EASH EEMAEK 

"Thou Shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matt. 4:7). 

In one of the middle states lives an elderly 
woman, who is stricken with a strange affliction. 
In some respects it greatly resembles that dreadful 
malady called leprosy. She is covered from head to 
foot with a mass of dry scabs which are of a green- 
ish color. At times her misery is so great that she 
writhes and twitches like a worm in the fire. She 
declares that there are times when her whole body 
feels as though she were in a literal furnace of fire. 
She has been in this critical condition for many 
years and seems unable to obtain any permanent 
relief. Several ministers of the gospel have visited 
and prayed with her but no lasting relief is ever ob- 
tained. God seems to have set her up for a mark 
upon which to wreak His vengeance and then to 
have turned a deaf ear to all prayers offered in her 
behalf. Her condition so impressed the writer of 
these lines that he inquired among her acquain- 
tances to find out the underlying cause of this 
strange affliction, since the unfortunate woman 
neither dies nor recovers, but remains the same year 
in and year out. Our inquiry, however, revealed the 
following fact : We were told that many years ago, 
at the death-bed of her unsaved husband, she became 

[103] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



so enraged against God for taking him that she pub- 
licly made the following remark: ^^I wish I could 
die and go to hell with him !" These rash words en- 
tered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and not- 
withstanding the fact that a period of nearly forty 
years has elapsed since that time, He did not forget 
to visit her with marked judgment. It is true she 
has not gone to hell as yet, but of a truth hell has 
come to her. 

There are hundreds of people afflicted in differ- 
ent ways throughout the land to-day, who, no doubt, 
if the truth were known, are afflicted for a similar 
reason, namely, making rash remarks and complain- 
ing against the great God of heaven and earth. 

^^And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, 
prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord Com- 
eth with ten thousand of His saints, to execute 
judgment upon all, and to convince all that are un- 
godly among them of all their ungodly deeds which 
they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard 
speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against 
Him'^ (Jude 14, 15). 



rt04] 



XXVIII 
A SHADOW 

"All my members are as a shadow" (Job 17:7). 

Man's stay upon earth is so short and there are 
so many valuable lessons to learn before he goes 
hence, and besides his intellectual powers have been 
so dwarfed by sin, that God has harnessed up every 
thing on earth and is daily using them in the school 
of providence to instruct him in the way of life. 

A shadow at first sight is quite an insignificant 
thing, and yet God has made mention of it in His 
Word not less than fifty times. When a shadow is 
carefully studied, it contains some helpful lessons. 
Let us notice them briefly. 

1. God, in one passage of Scripture, uses the 
shadow to more fully acquaint His children with 
His nearness and protecting power. We have all, 
no doubt, learned how to appreciate the shadow of a 
tree on a hot summer day. Well, this is what God 
offers to do for our souls. Notice how the promise 
reads : "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the 
Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Al- 
mighty'' (Psa. 91:1). "And a man shall be as a 
hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the 
tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isa. 32 : 2) . 

2. The next valuable lesson which the shadow 

[105] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



contains for mortal man is this : Since it is a phan- 
tom, which is the most unsubstantial thing in the 
world, it serves as a fitting emblem with which to 
compare this present life and all created things. 
No matter how they may attract us with their 
beauty, we are ever to remember that they are but 
shadows and are hastening to be gone. What saith 
inspiration at this point? ^^Man that is born of a 
woman is of few days. * * * He cometh forth 
like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a 
shadow, and continueth not'' (Job 14: 1,2). ^^My 
days are like a shadow * * * and I am withered 
like grass" (Psa. 102:11). 

3. Still another valuable lesson brought to us 
by the shadow is this : It so beautifully reminds us 
of the fact that there are two sides to this present 
life of chance and change, so that we may not be too 
greatly confused when the various changes come 
upon us. We must remember that every visible 
substance upon earth has a shadow, that is, a light 
and a dark side. Earth's greatest joy contains 
some sorrow, her brightest day is succeeded by a 
dark night, her greatest gain is followed by some 
loss, her dearest friendship is shadowed by a foe, 
her sweetest song contains a sigh and her most en- 
chanting music has some discord. 



[106] 



XXIX 

DEFYING GOD 

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked" (Gal. 6:7). 

In the northern part of New York state once 
lived a company of pious, God-fearing people, who 
were strict observers of the Lord's day. In the 
same community lived an infidel who greatly op- 
posed them by using his influence to poison the 
minds of the neighbors against them. He insisted 
that there was no wrong whatever in working on 
Sunday, and said he would convince all in the com- 
munity of the fact through a crop of wheat which 
he was then planning to sow. He said he would 
prepare the ground on Sunday, sow the grain, reap 
it and also draw it to the barn on Sunday, and so 
he did. It was about two o'clock one beautiful Sun- 
day afternoon, when he got the last load into the 
barn. It was an ideal afternoon and the sun shone 
wonderfully bright. But in a few moments, far off 
in the blue vault, a small pillar of white cloud was 
seen floating slowly and majestically until it finally 
settled over the farmer's barn, when a streak of 
lightning swept down, set the barn on fire and burnt 
it to ashes. 

"Not so sternly, haughty spirit; 

Lay thy loftiness aside; 
From thy forehead smooth the furrow, 

From thy heart pluck out the pride." 

[107] 



XXX 

AN ACHAN IN THE CAMP 

''Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23). 

One of the charter members of a certain church 
in the south died a few years ago leaving, in sub- 
stance, the following testimony: For many years 
she was an active member in the church, one who 
professed no small degree of piety. However, it ap- 
pears from her own testimony that she had never 
received a change of heart, namely, the ^'new birth," 
but had played the hypocrite for upwards of thirty 
years. Before giving the following testimony she 
was stricken with a lingering malady and gradually 
grew worse as the days went by. As her end drew 
near, her guilt and condemnation became too great 
to conceal any longer. So on the day preceding the 
day of her death, she began to confess her sins and 
talk out her heart, the substance of which was this : 
"Though I have been for years a member and worker 

in church, I have never been right with God. It 

is true, I have been looked upon as mother of the 
church and always assisted in preparing the candi- 
dates both for baptism and also the sacramental 
emblems, but all the while I possessed a wicked 
heart and was living in open sin. I have been the 
instigator of the downfall of many young women, 
and besides I have frequently committed murder to 

[108] 



AN ACHAN IN THE CAMP 



cover up their shame/' She paused a moment and 
then proceeded as follows: ^^I realize that you 
think I am delirious and do not know what I am 
talking about, but in order to convince you that I 
am not, I will make the following prediction; if it 
comes to pass, then you will know that I was not 
delirious, but perfectly normal: I am going to die 
to-morrow at eleven o'clock, and just before that 
hour a thick, black cloud will hang over this city. 
Mark you! the wind will blow terrificly and the 
thunder roll and the lightning flash, but not a drop 
of rain will fall. And when you see the lightning 
flashing and hear the thunders crashing, I shall thjen 
be entering the confines of hell." She ceased speaking 
and spent the night in quite a restless condition. 
The next day, between ten and eleven o'clock, just 
as she had said, the heavens grew dark and clouds 
hung heavily over the city. The wind also blew 
furiously, but not a drop of rain fell. Sure enough 
at eleven o'clock there was an awful electric storm. 
The thunder roared and the lightning ran wild 
through the black, cloud-draped vault, and in the 
meantime this lost soul was passing through Jor- 
dan's chilly waves into a world where Hope and 
Mercy are strangers. 



[109] 



XXXI 

DEATH OF THE INTENDED BEIDE 

**I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit 
my cause: which doeth great things and unsearchable; mar- 
velous things without number'* (Job 5:8,9). 

If there is ever a time or place along the highway 
of life where a human being seems to have a just 
reason for censuring the Creator, it is when an in- 
tended bride or groom is suddenly nipped away by 
the reaper death. Of all of life's sorrows, burdens, 
heartaches and briny tears, this seems to be her most 
bitter cup for Adam's race. Disappointed fancy, 
covetousness, pride or revenge, deserve no sympathy 
whatever, but oh, the pangs of disappointed love ! 

The writer is willing to admit that this is no 
faint blow to a heart that is buoyant with hope and 
aflame with conjugal love. But if we were per- 
mitted to see things from the view-point of our 
heavenly Father, ^^who is too wise to err and too gra- 
cious to be unkind, and who is also arranging every- 
thing in heaven and earth for the infinite good of 
man,'' I am sure we would see things in a different 
light and change our views to some extent. It must 
ever be borne in mind that our heavenly Father 
quite often sends us blessings in disguise. 

Let us now notice some of the many reasons why 
He m^y think it best to pluck this much-admired 

/ [110] 



DEATH OF THE INTENDED BEIDE 

flower at this particular time and thus prevent it 
from being woven into the wreath of love. 

1. He, being omniscient, may be conscious of 
disabilities and hidden defects in one or the other of 
the parties to be joined in holy matrimony, which if 
permitted to remain in the hot-bed of time, would 
completely wreck the lives of both of them, and be- 
sides would send their souls to hell. It would be far 
better for many persons to-day if they were in their 
graves rather than yoked up with the incarnate 
demon or demoness who has blighted their life and 
filled it with shoreless gloom. 

2. God's all-seeing eye, which scans heaven and 
earth at a glance, may behold beneath the bloom of 
the gallant young man, germs of drunkenness, gam- 
bling, wife-beating and murder, which only time and 
opportunity would develop. On the other hand. His 
all-seeing eye may discover, deeply buried in the 
heart of the intended bride, pernicious germs that 
time and provocation would develop, thus trans- 
forming her into a street-walker, fashion-fiend or 
foul harlot. Therefore, instead of it being an act of 
cruelty on the part of God in nipping these flowers 
in the bud, it is an act of great kindness. 

3. His third reason for plucking this beautiful 
flower, disappointing love and staunching the spring 
of bridal-joy, may be to prevent a God-called, God- 
appointed and God-anointed herald of the gospel 
from getting out of divine order and being hindered 
for life. It would have been a great act of kindness 
on the part of God, if He had used this method to 

[111] 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



preserve the usefulness of many ministers^ gospel 
workers and missionaries who are to-daj hampered 
for life in this respect. ^^O the depth of the riches 
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how un- 
searchable are His judgments, and His ways past 
finding out r (Eom. 11:33). 



[112] 



XXXII 

ILL-GOTTEN GAIN 

"And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured 
to you again" (Matt. 7:2). 

As strange as the statement may appear to the 
reader, there is something about ill-gotten gain that 
inflicts a penalty and punishment upon men on this 
side of the river of death, yes, long before they reach 
the tribunal bar of God. Instead of the afore-men- 
tioned wealth bestowing the great blessing upon 
men which they anticipate, it rather hastens their 
irreparable doom. If the real causes of the loss of 
many lives in boat disasters, automobile and rail- 
road wrecks were fully known to the world, w^e 
would discover that ill-gotten gain had the greatest 
hand in them. It is absolutely a matter of impossi- 
bility for any one to wrong his fellow creature and 
then escape being severely punished in the world in 
which he lives. 

When the writer was a boy, playing in the 
streets and byways with his playmates, he was more 
than once convinced of the fact that w^henever he 
cheated or took the advantage of them in any way, 
he would come out the loser in the end. The same 
rule holds good to-day wath God's grow-n-up boys 
and girls. The cause of many blasted crops, 
shrunken markets, lost limbs, lost health and 

[113] 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



blighted lives may be traced back to an unfair deal 
somewhere along the highway of life. 

We once knew a prosperous farmer who swindled 
his stepmother, younger brothers and sisters out of 
their share of a large estate and in less than three 
years he lost the whole thing and became a servant 
for the people in that community. 

Many a man has commenced to build a mansion 
with ill-gotten money, who never lived to see it com- 
pleted. Equally so has many an ill-gotten dollar 
been invested in oil wells and mining stock that 
never was heard of again. 

Reader, if you would be on the safe side for both 
time and eternity, do as the good book says, "What- 
soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them'' (Matt. 7: 12). 



[114] 



XXXIII 
A HUMAN SKELETON 

"Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast 
fenced me with bones and sinews" (Job 10:11). 

Where is the man or woman to be found upon 
earth who can withstand and proudly throw ofiE the 
appeal of a human skeleton? There is hardly any- 
thing in the world that speaks more loudly to busy 
mortals than this human ruin. 

At first sight it strikes a death-blow to pride 
and self-esteem. In an instant it reveals the folly 
of idolizing fair cheeks, pretty teeth, winning eyes, 
beautiful hair and a lovely form. It substantiates 
the fact that ^ ^fairest flowers fade away, youth and 
beauty soon decay, and mortals have not long to 
stay." 

This trophy of death is not only a great rebuke 
to pride and self-esteem, but is also one of the most 
eloquent reasoners in the world. Its arguments are 
brief, it is true, but they will cause the most uncon- 
cerned and thoughtless sinner on the shore of time 
to seriously reflect. The words ^^God," "eternity," 
"heaven," and "hell" seem to be written upon every 
atom of a human skeleton, and are read and fully 
understood by all nations, kindreds and tongues. 

This human ruin is also one of the greatest ad- 
vocates of "equality." Upon it there is left no trace 
to evince the fact whether its possessor was once 

[115] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



rich or poor, high or low, learned or unlearned, 
comely or uncomely, Jew or Gentile, bound or free. 
All such marks of distinction have vanished away. 

"Behold this ruin! 'Twas a skuU 
Once of ethereal spirit full, 
This narrow cell was life's retreat; 
This space was thought's mysterious seat. 
What beauteous visions filled this spot? 
What dreams of pleasure long forgot? 
No hope, nor joy, nor love, nor fear 
Have left one trace of record here." 



[116] 



XXXIV 

HEAVEN INSULTED 

"And tlie Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive 
with man" (Gen. 6:3). 

Some years ago, while engaged in evangelistic 
work in western Pennsylvania, we were requested to 
call and pray with a sick man who was anxiously 
seeking the Lord. It was a lonely, country home, 
situated in a valley near a streamlet which stole its 
almost unobserved way between the rock-ribbed 
hills to the far-off sea. This murmuring streamlet 
seemed to join the lonely home, the solitary bridge, 
the barren trees and the doleful hills in singing their 
rueful evening song of woe. They all seemed to be 
engaged in singing the requiem of some doomed 
spirit, some God-forsaken soul. 

The sun shone faintly, the clouds looked melan- 
choly and sad, the winds seemed fast asleep, the tur- 
tle-dove, too, took up a doleful wail, while all na- 
ture seemed draped in weeds of woe. 

On entering this lonely home we saw a devoted 
wife whose meager form was almost worn to skin 
and bones, keeping loving vigil at the bedside of an 
old, gray-headed man whose fever-scorched frame 
shook beneath the pressure of years. This man, 
though nearing his three-score years and ten, was 
unsaved and without God and hope in the world. 
We knelt before the throne of grace and humbly im- 

[117] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



plored and besought, in his behalf, a pardon from 
the King of kings, but our hearts remained cold, our 
petition died on our lips and all heaven seemed to 
softly whisper "no.'^ The man prayed, too, and 
seemed greatly concerned about his soul, but all to 
no avail. What was the trouble? The Spirit had 
been grieved, light rejected, and heaven insulted. 
One of the neighbors informed us of the fact that 
some time previous to this, during a series of revival 
meetings that were being held in this community, 
the Holy Ghost so impressed this man to get right 
with God that he became angry and said to the 
Spirit one day, ^^I'U fix you!'^ He then entered a 
saloon and purchased a glass of liquor and hur- 
riedly drank it down so as to avoid being annoyed 
any further by the Spirit. Then and there the ten- 
der, brooding, heavenly dove took its flight to never 
return again. Thus were the words of the wise man 
fulfilled to the letter in his case. "When distress 
and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call 
upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me 
early, but they shall not find me'' (Prov. 1:27,28). 



[1181 



XXXV 

THE DEATH-BED 

"Yea, though I walk through the valley * * * of 
death, I will fear no evil" (Psa. 23:4). 

It is true the church is an excellent place to hear 
of the ways and dealings of God. The church is also 
a great place to hear convincing arguments on the 
subjects of eternity, heaven and hell. There is also 
another place situated in this brief world of 
shadows that surpasses even the church in this re- 
spect. This place is known throughout the civilized 
world by the striking title "Death-bed." Of a truth, 
with the exception of the Holy Spirit, this is the 
greatest religious instructor in the world. A deeper 
religious impression is made upon all classes at this 
point than at any other place. 

Eeader, let us pause a few moments and lend an 
attentive ear to this resistless preacher, and hear 
what it has to say. 

1. It seems that men will not accept any great 
degree of information regarding the uncertainty of 
earthly gain from any other source or messenger but 
the death-bed. It is at this point only that they 
realize, with the wise man of old, that "All is van- 
ity.'^ This is the only place on earth where heaps of 
gold, corner lots, railroad stock, oil wells, govern- 
ment bonds and diamond fields are dropped with 
contempt. 

[119] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



2. The death-bed not only convinces the chiL 
dren of Adam of the vanity and uncertainty of 
earthly gain, but also convinces them beyond a 
shadow of doubt regarding true and false religion. 
It is true there is a possibility of men taking up 
with a false religion and thus allowing themselves 
to be deceived for a while. But it is a rare thing for 
a soul to go out of the world deceived, to die think- 
ing he is going to heaven when he is going to hell. 
The death-bed, the flaming-tongued orator, makes 
him know well before leaving this world, whether 
he has built upon the rock or sand. 

3. Aside from the altar of God, the death-bed 
seems to be the only point where men's consciences 
are fully awakened, and also where they obtain a 
clear conception of righteousness and truth in its 
highest sense. There is something about death and 
eternity that will cause the most ungodly man to be- 
come serious and speak the whole truth. Previous 
to the dying hour, men may have refrained from con- 
fessing their past sins and misdemeanors to the bot- 
tom, but on nearing the margin of death they will 
then be honest if they never were so before. 

4. The death-bed is also the greatest revealer of 
human weakness to be found upon the shore of time. 
While in the bloom of health men frequently boast 
of their strength, ability, courage and beauty. But 
when scorched by fever, racked with pain, and terri- 
fied by the ghost of an evil conscience, they become 
as weak as water, and as timid and helpless as a 
child. 

[120] 



THE DEATH-BED 



5. At this point the mighty reasoner, death, 
causes all nations to realize the blessedness of a 
godly life on the one hand, and the curse and irrep- 
arable loss of a life of sin and folly on the other. 
No one at this point was ever known to regret the 
fact that he had lived for Jesus Christ, neither was 
any one ever found to glory in the fact that he had 
served the devil and spent his brief stay upon earth 
in sin. This is the point upon earth where men gen- 
erally receive a tremendous foretaste of heaven or 
hell. 

^^Death is the vile worm that gnaws the root of 
all of man's happiness serene, the gall of all his 
sweets, the thorn of every rose of earthly bloom, 
cloud of his noonday sky, frost of his spring, sigh of 
his loudest laugh, dark spot on every form of loveli- 
ness, rank smell amid his rarest spiceries, harsh dis- 
cord of all his harmony, reserve of every promise 
and the 'W of all to-morrow." 



[1211 



XXXVI 
ADAM AND EVE 

"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew 
that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, 
and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of 
the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day : 
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence 
of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the 
Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art 
thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I 
was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself* (Gen. 
3:7-10). 

Genesis is called the ^^book of beginnings/^ and 
so it is, for here we have a brief history of the first 
backsliders and the beginning of sin. The conduct 
of Adam and Eve in this narration is sufficient evi- 
dence that the flight of time does not alter character 
or take out the warp of sin. 

Notice a few interesting facts about these two 
persons. It was only one small act of disobedience 
which caused them to lose the favor of God and thus 
become sinners. People, nowadays, think that in 
order for a man to become a sinner he must get 
drunk, gamble, rob a bank, have a fight or commit 
some awful crime; but I declare unto you, reader, 
for one to commit the smallest known sin makes 
him as much a sinner in the sight of God as is the 
greatest drunkard or foulest harlot in the world. 
The Word says, ^^Sin is the transgression of the law" 

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ADAM AND EVE 



(John 3:4). It does not say how much sin, whether 
an ounce or a ton, but sin. It also says, "He that 
committeth sin is of the devil," that is, is a child of 
the devil. No matter how thoroughly saved a per- 
son may be, the very moment he wilfully trans- 
gresses the law of God, even in the smallest point, 
he becomes as much a sinner in the sight of God as 
a horse thief (1 John 3:8). Let us next notice the 
results of that small sin. 

1. It brought immediate condemnation and 
severed their connection with God. It instantly 
filled them with guilt, remorse and darkness, just 
as does the smallest act of disobedience to-day. We 
admit that people, after transgressing God's law, go 
right on and pretend to be saved and blest, but if 
they would acknowledge the clear, clean, judgment- 
day truth, they would say that their connection with 
God was severed and their hearts filled with dark- 
ness, guilt and condemnation. 

2. It not only filled Adam and Eve with guilt 
and condemnation, but stripped them of their robe 
of purity, innocence and the image of God, and filled 
their hearts with anger, pride, jealousy, envy, self- 
love, malice, lust, deceit and every evil trait found 
in the heart of the devil. 

3. This small act of disobedience did not simply 
stop at ruining man, but wrecked fair earth, gave 
birth to every disease, forced every tear, draped 
every widow in mourning, begot every dying groan 
and dug every grave in the land. 

Among the many disastrous things which this 
1123] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



small act of disobedience did for them we will men- 
tion but one more which, to us, seems among the 
worst of all. It immediately perverted their judg- 
merit and caused them to believe that they could 
cover up sin and deceive the all-wise God. Notice 
how the record reads : "^ Adam and his wife hid them- 
selves [from who, the Omnipresent God?] from the 
presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the 
garden" (Gen. 3:8). We can readily see to what 
extent sin had perverted their judgment, for David, 
who had far less wisdom than Adam, testified many 
years later, as follows: ^^ Whither shall I go from 
Thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy pres- 
ence? If I ascend up into heaven. Thou art there: 
if I make my bed in hell, behold. Thou art there. If 
I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the 
uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy 
hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me" 
(Psa. 139:7-10). 

Let us next notice briefly a few of the fig-leaf ex- 
cuses which some of the modern Adams and Eves 
are trying to hide behind. The first one that comes 
to mind is perverted Scripture. Nowadays, when we 
tell the people about living without sin and being 
sanctified wholly, they begin immediately to quote 
the following : ^'Man is as liable to sin as the sparks 
fly upward.'' There is no such passage of Scripture 
in the Bible. However, in Job 5 : 7 we read the fol- 
lowing statement: "Yet man is born unto trouble^ 
as the sparks fly upward/' The word sin is not in 
the text The next fig-leaf excuse is as follows: 

[124] 



ADAM AND EVE 



^There is none good; no one can live holy in this 
life ; we get it at death.'' However, it is quite evi- 
dent that such people are not at all familiar with 
the Word of God, for we read in Luke 1 : 73-75, 'The 
oath w^hich He sware to our father Abraham, that 
He would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out 
of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without 
fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all 
the days of our life.'' 'Tor the grace of God that 
bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teach^ 
ing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in 
this present world" (Tit. 2:11,12). 

''Our minister doesn't believe in holiness," is one 
of the popular excuses of modern times. Those who 
use this as an excuse for not seeking the blessing of 
holiness, seem to have overlooked the following pas- 
sages of Scripture : "Let no man deceive you by any 
means" (2 Thess. 2:3). "As we said before, so 
say I now again. If any man preach any other gos- 
pel unto you than that ye have received, let him be 
accursed" (Gal. 1:9). "Follow peace with all men, 
and holiness, without which no man shall see the 
Lord" (Heb. 12:14). 

"Once in Christ, never out" is the next modern- 
day fig-leaf which thousands of carnal-minded pro- 
fessors of religion are endeavoring to hide behind. 
But the good old book says : "When a righteous man 
doth turn from his righteousness, and commit in- 
iquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he 
shall die : because thou hast not given him warning, 

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IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which 
he hath done shall not be remembered'^ (Ezek. 3: 
20). "If a man abide [stay] not in me, he is cast 
forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men gather 
them, and cast them into the fire, and they are 
burned'' (John 15:6). 

"I will therefore put you in remembrance, 
though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, hav- 
ing saved the people out of the land of Egypt, after- 
ward destroyed them that believed not. And the an- 
gels which kept not their first estate, but left their 
own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting 
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the 
great day" (Jude 5, 6). "Ye therefore, beloved, see- 
ing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, 
being led away with the error of the wicked, fall 
from your own steadfastness" (2 Pet. 3: 17). 

This surely looks as if there is a possibility of 
one's getting out of Christ, if they fail to watch and 
pray. 



[1261 



XXXVII 

CAIN AND ABEL 

"And in process of time it came to pass, tliat Cain 
brought of tlie fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and 
of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and 
to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had 
not respect" (Gen. 4:3-5). 

In this narration we have a beautiful description 
of genuine and spurious religion. Let us more nar- 
rowly observe these characters and see how per- 
fectly they resemble the two grades of modern piety. 
We will first notice some ways in which Cain's re- 
ligion resembles the spurious religion of modern 
times. 

1. Cain's offering was void of Mood which rep- 
resented the coming Eedeemer, the Lamb of God, 
who was to take away the sin of the world. Paul 
said, ^Vithout shedding of blood is no remission" 
(Heb. 9:22). We are sorry to say, however, that 
Cain is not without posterity, for there are multi- 
tudes throughout the land to-day who still deny 
their need of the atoning blood of Christ. 

2. A second defect which we have discovered in 
the religion of Cain is as follows : It did not cause 
him to renounce all sin. It is true he professed to be 
saved, attended worship and also took an active part 
in all of the services, yet notwithstanding that fact, 

[127] 



IMPEESSIVB TALKS 



he, at the same time, cherished hatred and murder 
in his heart. The Word says, ^'Whosoever hateth 
his brother is a murderer: and ye know that 
no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" 
(1 John 3:15). To-day, in the churches, are hun- 
dreds that sing, pray, testify and do religious work, 
who are not on speaking terms with a fellow worker 
right in the same church. 

3. A third way in which Cain's religion was 
faulty is seen in the fact that it kept him and caused 
him to be religious only while at the place of wor- 
ship, but not while at home and around the farm. 
He was a saint at church and a devil at home. He 
spoke as gently as a lamb to the folks at church, and 
growled like a lion at home. Eeader, are you one of 
these church angels and home demons? 

4. Still another noticeable feature of Cain's re- 
ligion was this: To some extent, it regulated his 
conduct, but did not change his heart. He was try- 
ing to be good and appear religious with the same 
old unregenerated heart. He was trying to live relig- 
ion without being born again. He was trying to get 
his conduct regulated without getting his heart re- 
generated. He was like the man who tried to get his 
clock repaired by taking the hands to the silver- 
smith. 

5. The next defect seen in Cain's religion, which 
strikingly reminds us of the spurious religion of 
modern times, is, there was that about it which 
caused its possessor to oppose, hate and persecute 
real godly people. It is useless for us to inform the 

[1281 



CAIN AND ABEL 



reader of the fact, that this is the same spirit which 
has persecuted, ridiculed, slandered and slain the 
people of God in every age of the world. And the 
worst of all is, it wears a mask of religion to succeed 
in accomplishing its deadly work. 

Let us next take a hurried glance at the piety of 
Abel and see how in every detail it harmonizes with 
apostolic religion. 

1. He brought an acceptable offering unto God. 
That is, he was careful to leave out everything 
which he was sure had not the divine approval. Both 
Cain and Abel undoubtedly must have had some pre- 
vious knowledge of what Jehovah required as an 
offering. Abel's conduct here harmonizes perfectly 
with the following statement made by St. Paul : ^^I 
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of 
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, 
holy, acceptable unto God, w^hich is your reasonable 
service'' (Eom. 12: 1). This kind of an offering al- 
ways obtains the divine approval. 

2. He did it with a humble and contrite spirit; 
for we are told in the Scripture that God does not 
accept any other. ^^The sacrifices of God are a 
broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, 
Thou wilt not despise" (Psa. 51:17). "For thus 
saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eter- 
nity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and 
holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and 
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and 
to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isa. 
57:15). 

[129] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



3. Abel's offering consisted of the hest he had. 
It was not simply something good and nice, but also 
the "firstling ;'' that is, the best. The flight of time 
has by no means changed the divine mind. He still 
requires the best or none at all. He will not accept 
lame, blemished, moon-eyed, half-hearted service, but 
demands the best. 

4. Still another commendable feature in AbePs 
conduct worthy of notice is, he offered it with faith. 
The Word says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a 
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he ob- 
tained witness that he was righteous, God testifying 
of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh'^ 
(Heb. 11 : 4). This is not said of Cain. Martin Lu- 
ther discovered long ago that doing penance would 
not save a soul from hell, but exercising faith in 
Jesus Christ would, 

5. The next striking resemblance betw^een the 
piety of Abel and apostolic piety is, they both re- 
ceived a clear, definite witness from God that the 
work was done. God did not leave them to "guess" 
and "reckon so" about the matter, but made it clear 
and unmistakable. Notice what the Word says, "By 
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacri- 
fice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that 
he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts" (Heb. 
11:4). "And when the day of Pentecost was fully 
come, they were all with one accord in one place. 
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as 
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house 
where they were sitting. And there appeared unto 

[130] 



CAIN AND ABEL 



them cloven tongues like as of fii'e, and it sat upon 
each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy 
Ghost" (Acts 2: 14). 



[131J 



XXXVIII 
CAIN'S TKOUBLE LOCATED 

"Sin lieth at the door'* (Gen. 4:7). 

Here we have a man greatly displeased with God, 
because He failed to bless him to the extent that He 
was blessing his brother. However, God quickly 
remedied the complaint by telling him why He could 
not bless him. If God should pour His spirit upon 
a man while living in sin, it would contradict His 
Word besides encourage that person to continue in 
a life of sin. Therefore, men everywhere are com- 
manded to repent before they can receive the bless- 
ing of God. This grievous complaint, however, did 
not end with Cain, but is still being propagated by 
hundreds of professing Christians to-day. But this 
is why God does not give them the same degree of 
joy and peace that He does others. Eeader, this 
may be your complaint of long standing, especially 
when you attend the love-feast and testimony meet- 
ings where the children of God are full of joy and 
praise. No doubt, quite often you have censured 
God, and accused Him of using partiality. Yet, in 
the meantime, if you had listened attentively, you 
would have heard, no doubt, the gentle voice of the 
Spirit saying, "Sin lieth at the door.'' 

It is to be borne in mind that all sin and dis- 
obedience separates the soul from God. Just as a 

[132] 



CAIN'S TEOUBLE LOCATED 



small obstruction will wreck a railroad train, a 
small leak sink a vessel and a small snake-bite de- 
stroy life, so will the smallest sin bring spiritual 
death and separate the soul from God. 

Eeader, in the following list of small sins may 
be found the one which is lying at your door, and 
separating your soul from God. 

1. A secret spirit of reserve and holding back 
from God. A tendency to hold on to yourself and 
not to let God have the full right of way. An un- 
willingness to shout, scream, run or leap when 
moved by the Spirit. 

2. Yielding at heart to criticism and fault-find- 
ing. A disposition to turn your eyes and fix your 
gaze too constantly upon the faults of others in- 
stead of having that degree of charity which ^^cover- 
eth a multitude of sins,'^ which ^^rejoiceth not in in- 
iquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all 
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, en- 
dureth all things. Charity never faileth'' (1 Cor. 
13:6-8). 

3. Compromising in a mild form, associating 
and mixing with cooled-off religious and holiness 
people. Conforming to the world in a mild way. On 
the fence in doctrine, half and half. One day with 
the Tongues, and the next with the orthodox holi- 
ness people. In other words, a religious chameleon, 
which changes to suit its environments. 

4. The thing that is locking up heaven and turn- 
ing your soul into a barren desert may be a stiff, 
unyielding spirit, one that is slow to acknowledge 

[133] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



faults and ask forgiveness. Some people would 
rather take a whipping than humble themselves and 
ask a fellow creature's pardon. 

5. Yielding to scolding and harsh words may 
also be the grievous sin which is lying at your door. 
On the other hand, it may be yielding to pride in lit- 
tle things, or gradually backing up against light. 

Reader, are the words of the text true in your 
case? Is it true that sin lieth at your door? 



[134] 



XXXIX 

NOAH AND THE FLOOD 

^^And all flesh died" (Gen. 7:21). 

We are told by the apostle Paul that '^all Scrip- 
ture is given by inspiration of God, and is profit- 
able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in- 
struction in righteousness: that the man of God 
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works'' (2 Tim, 3:16,17). Therefore we feel per- 
fectly free to give the above narration a spiritual 
application. 

The statement, ^^all flesh died," strikingly re- 
minds us of what has to take place before souls get 
out into the deep with God. For convenience, it 
would do no violence to the text to make it read as 
follows: ^^And all self died.'' There are but few 
nowadays who wholly die out to self, and venture 
into the deep with God. There are many fine lines 
belonging to the self-life which are as great a hin- 
drance to purity and power as the larger lines of 
self. If to-day, God would open our spiritual eyes 
to see men's real spiritual condition, we would be 
surprised at the number of people professing holi- 
ness who are not dead to the carnal self-life. Lef 
us take a hurried glance at just a few of the fine 
lines of the self -life. 

1. A feeling which does not cheerfully submit 
[135] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



to the will and dictations of another. A feeling 
lurking within which does not feel perfectly calm 
and sweet when bossed or ordered around. Kempis 
sayS; "Nature is loath to die, reluctant to be kept 
down or overcome, or to be under, and objects to 
being in a state of subjection.^' 

2. A disposition which makes its possessor rest- 
less, talkative and argumentative when under trial, 
one which does not calmly and silently endure all 
things. "There is scarcely anything which you stand 
so much in need of in dying to yourself, as seeing 
and suffering the things which are contrary to your 
own will.'' 

3. Still another fine line of self which has to be 
drowned out, before the soul can get into the deep 
with God, is a tendency to make sense faith's foun- 
dation, rather than the eternal God. There are so 
many religious people who have smooth sailing only 
while they can see land, that is, while they realize 
some marked manifestation of the presence of God. 
But should a storm rise and dark clouds fill their 
spiritual sky, and the angry thunder of hell begin to 
growl, they at once become weak as water and are 
ready to call retreat. 

4. A person who loves to be petted, humored 
and made over, and who can also easily be made 
to feel slighted, neglected, lonesome and imposed 
upon, notwithstanding his pious conduct, good tes- 
timonies, long prayers and eloquent sermons, is not 
thoroughly dead to self. 

5. It is also a sure indication of the self-life 

[136] 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 



lurking within when one is easily embarrassed, 
shrinks from shame, criticism and reproach, and 
also when one feels unhappy in the society of the 
plain and humble pilgrims. 

6. The person who enjoys receiving gifts and 
presents more than he does giving them, has still a 
streak of self running through his spiritual life. 
^^Self does everything for gain, and for her own con- 
venience; can do nothing unless she is paid for it, 
but hopes to get either an equivalent or an advan- 
tage in exchange for every kindness, or else praise 
or favor; and she desires that her deeds, gifts and 
words should be highly esteemed." The good old 
book says, ^^It is more blessed to give than to re- 
ceive'^ (Acts 20:35). 

The following verse strikingly reminds us of a 
soul who has really died to self and gotten into the 
deep with God: ^^And the waters prevailed, and 
were increased greatly upon the earth ; and the ark 
went upon the face of the waters. And the waters 
prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the 
high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were 
covered" (Gen. 7:18,19). 

The first fact here, which is similar to a soul get- 
ting into the deep with God, is, Noah lost sight of all 
created things. Truly, he was in the world but not 
of it. So it is w^ith those who would become deeply 
spiritual. They must lose sight of wealth, honor, 
fame, reputation, fashion, custom, nationalities, par- 
ties and creeds, and see Jesus only. 

Second. Noah and the ark floated unobstructed 
[137] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



upon the bosom of the waters. There was not an ob- 
stacle in all the world to hinder his onward course. 
So it is when a person cuts loose from every created 
thing, and dies out to the opinion of every one, there 
is nothing in all creation that can hinder him from 
worshiping God in the beauty of holiness and travel- 
ing upward to the city of gold. 

A third noticeable fact seen in this narration, 
which greatly resembles the conduct of the deeply 
spiritual person, is, Noah did not have a single stake 
set as to wlien^ tvhere and hoiv. He left matters ab- 
solutely in the hands of the great God who hath 
said, ^^Take no thought for your life, what ye shall 
eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, 
what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than 
meat, and the body than raiment ? Behold the fowls 
of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, 
nor gather in barns ; yet your heavenly Father f eed- 
eth them. Are ye not much better than they ? Which 
of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his 
stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? 
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they 
toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto 
you. That even Solomon in all his glory was not ar- 
rayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe 
the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow 
is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe 
you, O ye of little faith?'' (Matt. 6: 25-30). We are 
not to understand by this that we are not to work 
and earn a living (2 Thess. 3: 10). What the Son 
of God means here is, that we be free from anxious 

[138] 



NOAH AND THE FLOOD 



care, uneasiness, carnal fear, and lack of faith and 
confidence in the living God. 

Finally, Noah reached a place where, in his own 
estimation, there was hut one family upon earth. 

Keader, have you gotten beyond the bounds of 
^Hsms/^ ^Htes/^ parties and creeds and into the place 
which Christ mentioned in His prayer, when He 
prayed as follows : ^^Neither pray I for these alone, 
but for them also which shall believe on me through 
their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may 
be one in us that the world may believe that Thou 
hast sent me" (John 17: 20, 21). 



[139] 



XL 
ABEAHAM AND LOT 

"And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's 
cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle : and the Canaanite 
and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. And Abram said 
imto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me 
and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for 
we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? sepa- 
rate thyself, I pray thee, from me ; if thou wilt take the 
left hand, then I will go to the right ; or if thou depart to 
the right hand, then I will go to the left'' (Gen. 13:7-9). 

If we modernize the words of the eighth verse, 
they would read as follows: ^Xet there be no ill 
feeling existing between me and thee, for we are 
Christians/'' 

Stirring up strife among the people of God is one 
of Satan's most successful ways of retarding the 
good work and causing souls to backslide. ^^Eelig- 
ious contention is the devil's harvest." ^When two 
discourse, if the one's anger rise, the man who lets 
the contest fall is wise." The question may arise 
here, what is strife ? Noah Webster gives it the fol- 
lowing definition: "Exertion or contention for su- 
periority; contention in anger or enmity; contest; 
struggling for victory; quarrel or war; opposition; 
contrariety; agitation produced by different quali- 
ties." 

It may be well, right here, to mention a few of 
[140] 



ABEAHAM AND LOT 



the leading things which usually breed strife in the 
Church of God. They are as follows : A desire for 
favoritism, jealousy, self-will, office-seeking and the 
desire for leadership, etc. 

Strife is contagious and spreads like wild-fire. 
It would require but a short time for it to consume 
the most spiritual church upon earth. In the fol- 
lowing lines will be seen some of the manifestations 
of strife : A reflecting, insinuating, missile-throwing 
spirit, in the form of prayer and testimony; a dis- 
cord-sowing, evil-speaking, tattling spirit; a knav- 
ish, undermining, ill-working spirit; one which 
smiles in your face and daggers you in the back ; one 
which stands up for you in the light, but fights you 
in the dark, and in secret. 

*'Most guilty, villainous, dishonest man! 
Wolf in the clothing of the pious lamb! 
Dark traitor in Messiah's holy camp! 
Leper in saintly garb! assassin masked 
In virtue's robe! vile hypocrite accursed." 

In the following lines will be found the only 
known remedy for strife. 1. Unbosom it by making 
an honest confession, one which covers all the ground 
and, if possible, reaches as far as the efifects of strife 
have gone. 2. Pray and get back on good terms with 
God. 3. Humbly ask the forgiveness of those per- 
sons who have been affected in the least degree by 
this strife. 4. Kemove or remedy every thing which 
may have a tendency to breed strife in the future. 
5. Forever refrain from carrying, bringing or receiv- 
ing evil reports. 

[141] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



Finally, after you have tried every known rem- 
edy to staunch the stream of strife, and all have 
failed, the last and only remaining thing to be done 
is to separate. Abram said to Lot, "Is not the whole 
land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, 
from me : if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will 
go to the right ; or if thou depart to the right hand, 
then I will go to the left'^ (Gen. 13: 9). 



[142] 



XLI 
LOT'S SODOMWAED COUESE 

"Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in 
the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom" 
(Gen. 13:12). 

If we were allowed to twentieth-centurize the 
above text, it would read after this order: "Ahram 
continued in the grace of God^ but Lot drifted 
worldward and hellward.'^ Lot and his conduct at 
this point strikingly remind us of the sinner and his 
hellward course. It does not appear that Lot 
reached Sodom in one day, but made several short 
stops on the way. However, all the while his face 
was set Sodomward. So it is with the unsaved to- 
day; every year, month, week, day^ hour, moment 
and second brings them that much nearer a lake of 
fire and brimstone. It is true, they may treat the 
matter lightly and scoff at the idea of getting saved, 
yet as surely as the sun rises in the East and sets in 
the West, they are hourly moving toward the flames. 

Notice some circumstances connected with this 
Sodomward course which are quite similar to those 
of the unsaved. 

1. There were two ways pointed out to him one 
of which he was to make his choice. In verse nine 
Abraham said, ^^If thou wilt take the left hand, then 
I will go to the right ; or if thou depart to the right 
hand, then I will go to the left." This is exactly 

[143] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



what God does to the sinner. ^^See, I have set before 
thee this day life and good, and death and eviP' 
(Deut. 30: 15). ^"Behold, I set before you the way 
of life, and the way of death" (Jer. 21: 8). ^^Choose 
ye this day whom ye will serve'' (Josh. 24: 15). 

2. He chose that which would render him the 
greatest portion of this world's goods. In other 
w^ords, he chose for time rather than for eternity. 
This appears to be the decision of a rich man who 
lived in Jesus' time. Listen to the brief story. ^^The 
ground of a certain rich man brought forth plenti- 
fully: and he thought w^ithin himself, saying, What 
shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow 
my fruits ? And he said, This will I do : I will pull 
down my barns, and build greater; and there will 
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will 
say to my soul. Soul, thou hast much goods laid up 
for many years ; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be 
merry. But God said unto him. Thou fool, this 
night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose 
shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" 
(Luke 12:16-20). 

Some years ago a dying wealthy man suddenly 
awoke to the fact that he had made the same mis- 
take. ^^He had spent his life amassing a fortune of 
$75,000, but had never given any special attention to 
his soul's salvation. When he came to die his wealth 
was no satisfaction to him ; on the contrary, it cost 
him great anguish to fully realize that he had spent 
his life in amassing wealth to the neglect of his soul. 
In this trying condition, he called in his brother-in- 

[144] 



LOT'S SODOMWARD COURSE 

law to pray for him, who said that the dying man 
called so loudly for mercy that he, the brother-in- 
law, could scarcely hear himself pray or fix his 
thoughts on anything. After the prayer was over, 
the wealthy man took the hand of his brother-in-law 
in both of his, and said as he shook it, "Good-by, 
John. Pray for me. I shall never see you again.'' 
And he never did. A little later his son came into 
his room and said, ^Tather, what arrangements, if 
any, do you wish to make in regard to the prop- 
erty?" He said, ^^I have given all my life to gain 
property ; I can not take a dollar with me. The law 
and the family will have to take care of that; I 
want to take care of my soul. Property avails 
nothing; I want mercy." And so he died, calling 
upon God for mercy ; but he left no evidence that he 
found it. 

3. His next step Sodomward was, he got away 
from religious influence. How many precious young 
people there are in the cities to-day in the depths of 
sin and iniquity, who were brought up in the home 
to pray and fear God ; but in coming to the city they 
have drifted from home training, mother's prayers 
and the instructions of a godly father, and are now 
nearing the border-land of infidelity. 

You've drifted from mother's training dear, 
When she prayed and wept 'till heav'n seemed neaF, 
As up she looked, and with accents mild, 
Said, "Lord, have mercy on my child." 



[145] 



XLII 
ELIJAH'S SMALL CLOUD 

"And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink ; 
for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went 
up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of 
Carmel ; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put 
his face between his knees, and said to his servant, Go up 
now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, 
and said. There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven 
times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he 
said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like 
a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Pre- 
pare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee 
not And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven 
was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. 
And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the 
Lord was on Elijah ; and he girded up his loins, and ran be- 
fore Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel" (1 Kings 18:41-46). 

How mindful God was of His children when He 
inspired the fathers to write the blessed Bible. For 
in it, He has placed a stimulant for every phase of 
the Christian life. It abounds with object lessons, 
pen pictures and examples, as well as precepts and 
promises, all of which are great helps to holy living. 

Here, in this brief narration, we are taught sev- 
eral beautiful lessons, which will prove quite a stim- 
ulant to faith, and also an excellent fertilizer for 
the prayer life. 

Let us briefly and without prejudice scan this 
[146] 



ELIJAH'S SMALL CLOUD 



narrative, and at the same time pick out the spiri- 
tual nuggets of gold. 

1. In verse forty-two, it says, "Ahab went up to 
eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of 
Carmel to pray.^^ What a contrast ! This is a life- 
sized picture of the carnal-minded, gluttonous, 
pleasure-loving church member on the one hand, and 
the spiritual-minded child of God on the other. We 
have always found it far more profitable to steal 
away to secret prayer than to attend birthday par- 
ties, Christmas dinners, and ice cream suppers. Oh, 
how sad it is that all of the pleasure-loving, gorman- 
dizing Ahabs did not die in the days of Elijah; if so, 
the present church would not be constantly annoyed 
and polluted by such degrading influences as fairs, 
entertainments, socials, suppers and picnics. 

2. The second lesson brought to us through Eli- 
jah's cloud experience, is this : When we are pray- 
ing for a special blessing or favor from God, we are 
not to relax our hold until we obtain an inward wit- 
ness that our prayer is heard and our petition 
granted. This is what Elijah did. It is true, the 
witness may not always be clear and brilliant, yet 
it will be sufficiently clear for faith to get a foothold 
and to remain as immovable as a rock. The cloud 
appeared to be only the size of a man's hand to Eli- 
jah's servant (viz., the natural man), but the keen- 
eyed man of faith saw in it the whole heavens 
draped in blackness, also heard the muttering thun- 
der and rapacious wind and, besides, saw torrents 
of rain falling from heaven. He did not wait until 

[147] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



he was drenched with water before he believed God, 
but believed on first sight. His faith was so buoy- 
ant, his expectation so electrified, his way^ will and 
choice in such harmony with the w^ill of God, and 
his spiritual ear so acute, that he readily recognized 
the first, faint glimmer of God. He was not so dull 
and full of unbelief that he had to wait for a house 
to fall upon him before he could believe. Eeader, 
how are you on this line ? 

3. We are also taught through Elijah's cloud 
experience that when we succeed in praying through 
and obtain the witness that our petition is granted, 
we do not need to pray for that special thing any 
more, but trust and loait. Elijah did not continue to 
pray for rain after the servant told him of the cloud 
arising, but began to seek shelter right away, i. e., 
prepared for the answer. 

4. Through this lesson we also discover the rea- 
son why people no longer have the spirit of prayer 
for their loved ones, and cease to have anxious con- 
cern after they have succeeded in praying through 
and have obtained the witness that God is going to 
save them. Many honest Christian parents have 
condemned themselves, and doubted the genuineness 
of their experience because of the absence of this 
soul burden for their loved ones. It is too bad, how- 
ever, that they have never awakened to the fact that 
the blessed Holy Spirit never makes intercession 
through His children unnecessarily, neither does He 
inspire them to pray for things which have already 
been granted. 

[148] 



ELIJAH'S SMALL CLOUD 



5. Again, the fact that the cloud 7^ose in the dis- 
tance shows us very clearly, when spiritually ap- 
plied, that after we have prayed through and re- 
ceived the evidence that God will surely bring it to 
pass, even then He may, in His wise providence, see 
best to defer its fulfilment for years. Abraham prayed 
through for a certain thing and died before it came 
to pass ; however, God brought it to pass at the right 
time and place. Header, if you have prayed through 
and obtained the evidence from God that He will 
save your loved ones, or grant that long standing 
petition, do not worry or grow uneasy, but leave it 
all to Him. He will surely bring it to pass in His 
own time, which may be after you have been in 
heaven for years. Therefore, look up, dear one, and 
be encouraged; God has not forgotten your tear- 
stained, midnight petition, but still has it on file. 

6. The next thought suggested by the small 
cloud is found in the words, ^^There ariseth a little 
cloud out of the sea" (1 Kings 18: 44). In spiritual 
mathematics the sea and ocean always represent an 
inexhaustible supply. The thought suggested is this : 
even though the beginning be small, there is a 
boundless supply in reserve upon which we may 
daily draw. Many clean, honest souls have be- 
come discouraged and doubted away a real divinely- 
wrought work in their souls, for the simple reason 
that it was not as brilliant as the experience of some 
one else, or because they did not receive it in every 
detail like this or that person. We must ever keep 
the following thought in mind : The essential of sal- 

[149] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



vation is not noise, bluster, forwardness or demon- 
stration, but a work wrought in the heart by the 
blessed Holy Ghost. We once attended a meeting 
where an earnest sister received the blessing of holi- 
ness on the quiet order. She received a definite wit- 
ness that the work was done, but did not make any 
great outward demonstration. Many of the workers 
doubted her and wanted her to go back to the altar, 
but there happened to be present an old father in 
the gospel, who quickly took in the situation, and 
exhorted her to hold fast to what God had done, and 
not to return to the altar or doubt away her bless- 
ing. She took Him at His word, and to-day she is one 
of the most out and out holiness women in the coun- 
try. O dear ones, let us not despise the day of 
small things! Many a young preacher on starting 
out has become discouraged over the fact that he did 
not possess the freedom of thought, the command of 
language, the insight into the Scriptures, and 
the variety of subjects that some father in the gos- 
pel did. Eemember, dear ones, though your present 
attainments be small, there is an inexhaustible 
ocean of grace and divine knowledge from which you 
may daily draw. Therefore, take heart and do not 
allow Satan to frighten you by saying, you will 
finally run out of pulpit matter and have nothing 
new to preach. You will find the more you pray and 
study God's Word, the more you will have to preach 
about. 

7. A final thought suggested by the lesson is 
found in verse forty-six, where the prophet was so 

[150] 



ELIJAH'S SMALL CLOUD 



moved upon by the Spirit of the Lord that he girded 
up his loins and outran the spirited steeds of Ahab 
all the way to the gates of JezreeL The prophet's 
conduct here suggests the following thought : when- 
ever we pray through for others, God gives us a spe- 
cial uplift in our own souls, and sets us in a new 
place. Elijah had won a twofold victory. He had 
succeeded in praying clear by the prejudice and hos- 
tility of proud King Ahab, and also drilled through 
a long-standing drought of three years and six 
months, and found water. There is no marvel that 
he ran nearly twenty miles. There is no surer way 
of getting blest than giving out to others. No mat- 
ter how weak, timid or backward we are, if we will 
begin to testify and exhort others, we will soon be- 
come like giants filled with new wine. When Job 
began to pray for his friends, God gave him twice as 
much wealth as he previously had. 

Keader, if you want God to give you the double- 
portion blessing, you must begin to dig out, move 
out, and give outy and in so doing, you will find that 
the waters of grace will rise and become waters to 
swim in, even a river that can not be passed over. 



[151] 



XLIII 
THE GLOKY IS DEPARTED 

''The glory is departed from Israel" (1 Sam. 4:22). 

This heart-rending cry fell from the lips of the 
dying wife of Phinehas, the son of Eli^ on the day 
that Israel fled before the Philistines. 

Now, reader, let us modernize this lesson and see 
if it does not in every way harmonize with the pres- 
ent state of things. 

We will notice what the ^*glory'' was to Israel. 
It meant the powerful presence of Jehovah in their 
midst, sweeping their enemies before them, and giv- 
ing them victory on every side. The present church 
is now God's spiritual Israel, and He, on the day of 
Pentecost, gave it the highest type of ^^glory,'' viz., 
the great outpouring of the Holy Ghost and fire, 
which resulted in sinners being converted, believers 
sanctified, tlie sick healed and the work of God 
spread like a forest fire. Now, we must confess that 
the church as a whole has lost this mighty power 
with God, so the thing to be done is to find the 
causes and speedily remedy them. You will notice 
in reading this fourth chapter of First Samuel that 
there were three things that caused this dying 
woman to make this awful statement. They were 
as follows: 1. Israel is fled before the Philistines. 
2. The priests are slain. 3. The ark of God is taken. 

[152] 



THE GLOEY IS DEPAETED 



Now, if you will carefully look about you, you 
will find the same state of affairs existing to-day. 
Let us notice these three conditions in order to 
loosely explain them. 

First. ^^Israel is fled before the Philistines,'' 
"Israel" here stands for the laity of the church. The 
"Philistines'' stand for the world and the enemies of 
religion. How true it is that they have fled before 
their enemies ! Just see how fashion, love of pleas- 
ure, gluttony, lust and covetousness have sapped 
away all of the spiritual life from the modern pro- 
fessors of religion. They are as estranged to real 
godliness as is a wild ass on the mountain. Their 
chief desire is to dress nicely, be admired and have a 
good time. Where their forefathers used to attend 
church to sing, pray, shout and praise God, they 
go nowadays only to display their nice clothing and 
to be in good society. Oh, lamentable state of af- 
fairs ! 

The second complaint was "the priests are slain" 
(viz., the preachers). The only difference between 
Israel's priests and our preachers is, Israel's priests 
were slain by the Philistines and ours are slain by 
the love of money, the love of authority, the love of 
praise, the love of women, the love of worldly wis- 
dom, the love of popularity, personal ambition and 
politics. Oh, for a spiritual mother to sound the 
note of warning, "The glory is departed!" 

The third complaint, which snapped her heart 
strings completely, was "the ark of God is taken." 
Truly, the old-time unction that used to be on the 

ri53] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



ministers and their congregations, that mightily 
convicted sinners and piled them around the altar 
like cord wood, that sanctified believers by the 
scores, that healed the sick and shook the country 
for miles, is gone, and in its stead the pipe-organ, 
the operatic choir and the ^^D.D." (dumb dog) 
preacher have been adopted. O God, wake us up be- 
fore we awake in hell ! 



[154] 



XLIV 
THE WILD VINE 

"And ElisM came again to Gilgal: and there was a 
dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sit- 
ting before him : and he said unto his servant, Set on the 
great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 
And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found 
a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, 
and came and shred them into the pot of pottage : for they 
knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. 
And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, 
that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is 
death in the pot" (2 Kings 4:38-40). 

Here we have one of the truest pictures that is to 
be found in the Bible of how God's children get into 
error. We are aware of the fact that these are aw- 
ful days, and error and fanaticism are surrounding 
us on every side; therefore ^^to be forewarned is to 
be forearmed.'^ 

As we proceed to paraphrase this narration we 
wish the reader to take special notice of how per- 
fectly it resembles some of the ways by w^hich peo- 
ple get into error nowadays. If we spiritualize the 
meaning of this "pot" or "feed-station," it would 
mean the church, the place where the sons and 
daughters of God are fed. The spiritual definition 
of this ^^wild vine^' is ^^error/^ 

Let us observe this story more narrowly, and see 
what we can find of interest. 

[155] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



1. The first fact that comes to the surface, 
which is worthy of our attention, is this: it was a 
good, pious, godly man who gathered this poison 
vine (2 Kings 4:39). This evidences the fact that 
it is possible for even a good man to get switched ofif 
into error, if he fails to watch and pray. A good, 
religious man, who has the confidence of multitudes, 
if he should get into error, is far more dangerous 
than fifty less spiritual men. Nothing seems to 
please Satan better than to get an eminently godly 
man into error, for in doing so hundreds of honest, 
well-meaning people will be dragged into the same 
pit. 

2. The next startling fact seen in verse thirty- 
nine is this : The man went out where the wild vine 
grew. Perhaps he was like many presumptuous, 
hard-headed Christians of to-day, who say they are 
not afraid to attend the meetings held by the Chris- 
tian Scientists, the Tongues, the Mormons, the Eus- 
sellites, the Adventists and the Catholics, as they 
want to know what is going on; however, it often 
results in turning them from the royal way, 

3. His intentions were good. He went in search 
of something good, but got hold of the wrong thing. 
Many an honest soul, with good intentions, has gone 
into meetings, which were being conducted by persons 
in error, in search of soul food, but instead got hold 
of a wild vine. They remind us of a lad who lived in 
the state of Mississippi, and who went out one eve- 
ning to get his mother a rabbit, but instead brought 
home a live rattlesnake. In his search, however, he 

[156] 



THE WILD VINE 



had found a rabbit all right, but on giving it a hot 
chase, it ran into a hollow log. The lad in his ear- 
nest pursuit rushed up to the log, dropped upon his 
knees and proceeded to pull the rabbit from its hid- 
ing place. Just then he felt something pulling and 
trying to free itself from under his knees, and, on 
looking down, awoke to the fact that his knees were 
pinning down a large rattlesnake in its coil. As 
providence seemed to arrange it, he had enough pres- 
ence of mind to grip it tightly around the neck, near 
the head, with one hand, and with the other to grip 
it down near the center of its body. In this position 
he carried it home, running every step of the way, 
and screaming at the top of his voice. He, like the 
wild vine man, had gone out in search of food, but 
instead was returning with rank poison. 

4. The next thing about the wild vine man 
which greatly resembles those who get into error is 
seen in the fact that he not only brought it home 
and was eating freely of it himself, but was also try- 
ing to feed it to his brethren and fellow workers. 
Frequently, when a good brother or sister goes out 
to some strange meeting and imbibes a lot of false 
doctrine and strange ideas, he or she will either 
start up a prayer meeting in his or her own home 
and thus try to feed it to others, or else go from 
house to house distributing the poisonous weed. 

5. The next fact about him, which is quite sug- 
gestive as well as full of thought, is as follows : In 
order to succeed in administering the wild vine to 
his brethren and colaborers, he had to carefully mix 

[157] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



it in with the pottage, namely, the wholesome food. 
This same method has been adopted to-day by al- 
most every propagator of error. They always mix 
in enough truth to conceal and cover up the false. 
They are like the man who remarked that he could 
find a passage in the Bible which said, ^^There is no 
God.'' On being requested to do so, he turned to the 
Fourteenth Psalm and with his thumb proceeded to 
cover up the first line. He was then told to remove 
his thumb, and there he would find his name. The 
part which he covered with his thumb read as fol- 
lows: ^^The fool hath said in his heart.'^ The part 
left exposed w^ere these words, ^^There is no God.'^ 

6. A final thought suggested by the lesson 
which is brimful of meaning, is how they obtained 
deliverance. Deliverance did not come until they 
cried out against it, ^There is death in the pot.'^ 
^'We have here a deadly mixture." They did not ob- 
tain deliverance by simply renouncing it. There are 
many to-day who have gone oflP after a delusion and 
gotten into error, who, on discovering the fact, 
quietly renounced it and slipped back into the holi- 
ness movement. But that is, by no means, Good's 
way. When we discover a doctrine or movement to 
be wrong, God wants us to lift up our voices and cry 
out against it, and thus prevent other honest souls 
from falling into the same pit. 



[158] 



XLV 
THE PUNCTUALITY OF GOD 

"And they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and 
sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver" 
(Gen. 37:28). 

The thought suggested to our mind through this 
little incident is the punctuality of God, or, in other 
wordSj God in the nick of time. It is astonishing 
what an awful fight Satan puts up to discourage 
God's people and to break down their faith, when in 
close and trying circumstances. One of the most 
dijfficult lessons, however, for them to learn and keep 
in mind, is the station and circumstances under 
which God, in bygone days, met His people, brought 
deliverance and answered their prayers. The ques- 
tion, no doubt, that arises in the mind of the reader 
is, ^ Where is this mysterious clime?'' We answer, 
at man's extremity. 

Many years ago our father related to his children 
a story which strikingly reminds us of how God 
comes at the critical moment. The story was as fol- 
lows : Once upon a time there lived on the margin 
of a dense forest in a small log cabin, with a large 
dirt chimney, a man, his wife and a small child. 
One day the man took his gun and went into the 
forest in search of game. After he had been gone 
for some time, a large panther came out of the for- 
est and attempted to force open the door that he 

[159] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



might destroy the woman and child, but not suc- 
ceeding, he climbed upon the roof and tried to enter 
the house through the chimney. The poor woman, 
appalled with fear, remembered that panthers could 
not endure the scent of burnt feathers. So she 
hastily removed the feather mattress from the bed 
and began applying feathers to the flames, a handful 
at a time, and thus kept the panther at bay on the 
roof of the house. No doubt, all the while she was 
lifting her heart to God in earnest prayer. Finally, 
after an hour or more had passed away, she took 
from the mattress the last handful of feathers and 
committed them to the flames. As the last bit of 
smoke was ascending the chimney and the odor rap- 
idly dying away, she heard the discharge of her 
husband's gun and the panther's dead body tum- 
bling from the roof of the cabin. This is just the 
way Qod works. He always puts in His appear- 
ance at the last hour, yet always on time. 

Now for our special encouragement let us trace 
this thought throughout the Bible and see how se- 
curely it holds, for God has verified it with a long 
line of events running from creation's dawn down to 
the present day. 

1. On the last night before Jacob was to face his 
brother Esau, who was coming to meet him with four 
hundred men, to take vengeance upon him for steal- 
ing his birthright. The record reads as follows: 
^^And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, 
and his two women-servants, and his eleven sons, 
and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took 

[160] 



THE PUNCTUALITY OF GOD 



them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over 
that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there 
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the 
day * * * And he said, Let me go, for the day 
breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, ex- 
cept thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is 
thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said. Thy 
name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel : for 
as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, 
and hast prevailed" (Gen. 32: 22-28). 

2. When Hagar was homeless and destitute, 
and the water spent in the bottle, and she had cast 
her child away to die. In that critical hour the rec- 
ord reads, ^^And God heard the voice of the lad ; and 
the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and 
said unto her. What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; 
for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. 
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand: 
for I will make him a great nation. And God opened 
her eyes, and she saw a well of water ; and she went, 
and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad 
drink'' (Gen. 21: 17-19). 

3. When the mother of Moses could keep him 
concealed no longer and was compelled to dispose of 
him. Listen how the records read. ^^And when she 
could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark 
of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with 
pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in 
the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood 
afar ofif [but God did not], to wit what would be 
done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came 

[161] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens 
walked along by the river's side : and when she saw 
the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch 
it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child : 
and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compas- 
sion on him'' (Exod. 2:3-6). 

4. Still another manifestation of God at the 
last hour, is when the widow of Zarephath went out 
to gather sticks to cook her last meal before yield- 
ing up life to the rapacious wolf of starvation. Just 
then God appeared on the scene through His servant 
Elijah. Listen to the gentle words of comfort which 
fell like dewdrops from the precious lips of the man 
of God, upon the wave-tossed, storm-ridden soul of 
the pious widow. ^^Fear not * * * for thus saith 
the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not 
waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the 
day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth" 
(1 Kings 17:13,14). 

5. When at Nebuchadnezzar's command the 
furnace was as much like hell as it could be made 
and the ^^martyrs, with their hands bound behind 
them, were pushed up the slope, side by side, by the 
soldiers walking behind them, and using them as a 
shield against the heat. When the door was reached, 
the Ethiopians swung it open with iron hooks, and 
at the same instant, the soldiers gave the con- 
demned men a violent push. Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abednego fell down ^into the midst of the fire,' 
and the soldiers who pushed them in fell back dead, 
slain by the hot breath of the furnace. The fright- 

[162] 



THE PUNCTUALITY OF GOD 



ened slaves fled as from the mouth of hell, chased 
by the angry flames, which leaped from the open 
door/^ Did God forget His servants? Was He on 
time? Let the king who had them thrown in an- 
swer our question. ^^Then Nebuchadnezzar the king 
was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and 
said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three 
men bound into the midst of the fire? They an- 
swered and said unto the king, True, O king. He 
answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walk- 
ing in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt ; 
and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God'' 
(Dan. 3:24, 25). 

Time would fail to tell how God met Daniel in 
the lion's den, Peter the last night in jail, Paul and 
Silas in jail^ and John banished on the isle of Pat- 
mos. 

Let us carefully observe John's testimony at this 
point and see if it sounds as if God had deserted 
him, or failed to be on time to meet him, on that 
solitary island. ^^I was in the Spirit on the Lord's 
day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a 
trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first 
and the last : and. What thou seest, write in a book, 
and send it unto the seven churches which are in 
Asia. * * * And I turned to see the voice that 
spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven 
golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven 
candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed 
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about 
the paps with a golden girdle. His head and 

[163] 



IMPItESSIVE TALKS 



His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; 
and His eyes were as a flame of fire; And His feet 
like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; 
and His voice as the sound of many waters. And 
He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of 
His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword : and His 
countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. 
And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto 
me, Fear not ; I am the first and the last : I am he 
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive 
for evermore. Amen ; and have the keys of hell and 
of death'^ (Eev. 1:10-18). 

Header, if you have a long-standing petition up 
at the throne, or have left a serious matter in the 
hands of God to look after, do not worry or fret; 
He will not forget to attend to it, but will be there 
on the minute. Again, it may be that Satan often 
annoys you with the thought that God will desert 
you in the trying ordeal of death, and fail to meet 
you at the river. But fear not, He is sure to be 
there. When Stephen was passing through Jordan's 
surging tide he shouted, ^^I see the heavens opened, 
and the Son of man standing on the right hand of 
God.'' "I see angels clapping their hands around 
the great white throne," cried Eva Greening. ^^He 
is come! My Beloved is mine and I am His for- 
ever," said Thomas Walsh. Oh, do not doubt Him, 
reader ; He is always on time ! 

When my stay on earth is ended, 
And life's fading like a dream, 

[164] 



THE PUNCTUALITY OF GOD 



I am sure my Lord will meet me, 
Down at Jordan's icy stream. 

When my long-imprisoned spirit 
From its mortal house is freed, 

And I'm facing unknown regions, 
Christ will be my guide to lead. 



[165] 



XLVI 
THE HALF HAS NOT BEEN TOLD 

*'And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom 
of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the meat 
of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attend- 
ance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cupbearers 
also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went 
up into the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit 
in her. And she said to the king. It was a true report which 
I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom. 
Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine 
eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half * * * was 
not told me" (2 Chron. 9:3-6). 

Solomon, in the days of his glory, was a fitting 
resemblance of the Lord Jesus Christ and His ever- 
lasting kingdom. The queen of Sheba, when spiri- 
tually applied, beautifully typifies the church when 
she shall arrive at home and behold the King in His 
beauty, and the glory of His kingdom. 

In divine revelation Grod the Father seems to 
have kept Himself in the background, and turned 
the eyes of all beings in heaven and on earth upon 
His Son. 

Abraham's visitor in the plains of Mamre was 
Jesus Christ (Gen. 18: 1; John 8: 58). The angel of 
the covenant who led the children of Israel through 
the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day and a 
pillar of fire by night, was this same Jesus. The 
Captain of the Lord's host, who appeared to Joshua 

[166] 



THE HALF HAS NOT BEEN TOLD 

near Jericho, was the same Jesus who came to earth 
many centuries later to seek and to save that which 
was lost. It was this same Jesus whom the prophet 
Isaiah saw in a vision, high and lifted up, and His 
train filled the temple (Isa. 6:1). 

The prophet Daniel testified in the following 
words of seeing this very same Jesus : "I beheld till 
the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days 
did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the 
hair of His head like the pure wool : His throne was 
like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire'' 
(Dan. 7:9). Paul gave Timothy the following ex- 
hortation regarding this Jesus: "That thou keep 
this commandment without spot, unrebukable, un- 
til the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which 
in His times He shall shew, who is the blessed and 
only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of 
lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the 
light which no man can approach unto; whom no 
man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and 
power everlasting. Amen" (1 Tim. 6:14-16). The 
apostle John took up the same strain in the follow- 
ing language : "Unto Him that loved us, and washed 
us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made 
us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to 
whom be glory and dominion for ever and ever. 
Amen." The four beasts and four and twenty elders 
in heaven took up the strain also with flaming 
tongues. "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the 
throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of 
the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, hav- 

[167] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



ing seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven 
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And 
He came and took the book out of the right hand 
of Him that sat upon the throne. And when He had 
taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty 
elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one 
of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which 
are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new 
song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book, and 
to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain. 
* * * And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many 
angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and 
the elders: and the number of them was ten thou- 
sand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
sands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the 
Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, 
and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, 
and blessing. And every creature which is in 
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and 
such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, 
heard I saying. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, 
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (Eev. 5: 
6-13). 

Let us briefly notice some of the many discoveries 
that will some day cause millions of flaming tongues 
in heaven to exclaim with wonder and amazement, 
''The half was not told !" 

1. At the end of our long, weary, wave-tossed 
voyage we pass through the gates of pearl and 
standing upon the pavement of transparent gold, 

[1681 



THE HALF HAS NOT BEEN TOLD 

we gaze upon that world of fadeless day. At this 
point we obtain a perfect knowledge of the height, 
depth, breadth and length of redeeming love — how 
the Savior left His Father, the association of angels 
and all the bliss of heaven and went to earth to 
live a life of poverty and shame. How He rushed 
beneath the flaming sword and took the sinner's 
place, while on His immaculate form justice reeked 
all his rage. Oh, what love divine! What infinite 
mercy that could freely forgive the deepest dyed 
rebel, wash him white and make him equal with 
Deity! Yes, when we get a glimpse of redeeming 
love from heaven's point of view and see how it 
blended heaven and earth together, making God, 
angels and men one family, we will exclaim with as- 
tonishment and wonder, ^^The half was not told!" 

2. When with the insight heaven gives we fully 
realize Christ's victory over Satan and the powers 
of darkness, we will again make heaven ring with 
the words of the queen of Sheba. Yes, when we look 
through the galleries of heaven among the imagery 
of wonders past and see how the Savior met Satan 
in open conflict on the plains of heaven, and with 
"linked thunderbolts, barbed arrows and careering 
fires, drove him out from God and bliss into the 
wasteful deep, while eternal wrath pursued him to 
the bottomless pit;" and when from that crystal- 
line world we realize how on Calvary's rugged brow 
the Savior, in human weakness, grappled with Sa- 
tan and all the powers of hell for six long hours and 
defeated them, while rocks rended, earth quaked 

[169] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



and heaven veiled its face ; yes, when we more fully 
realize how His emancipated spirit threw open the 
gates of death and swept down its dark archway, 
pursuing Satan and his rebel host into that world 
of penal fires, and how He imprisoned them there, 
and brought away the keys of hell and death, we 
will exclaim with flaming tongues, ^^The half has not 
been told r 

3. When we behold His immaculate purity in 
full bloom and in its native clime beneath the ever- 
beaming rays of unclouded holiness, we will quickly 
confess that His standard of purity in deed, word 
and thought, for men on earth, was not at all too 
high, for the half was never told. 

4. When beneath the bowers of bliss we awake 
to the full knowledge of the efficacy of the blood of 
Christ through seeing millions of once-polluted sin- 
ners clothed in white linen and waving branches of 
palms, we will exclaim with flaming tongues, ^There 
was no excuse for sin on earth; the half of the 
power of the blood has not been told." 

5. When we awake from the slumber of igno- 
rance and obtain a clearer conception of the power 
of God, how He spoke worlds into existence, weighed 
the mountains in scales and the hills in balances, 
how He hung out the planets and paved the "milky 
way'' with a hundred and seventeen million suns, I 
say, when we awake to these stupendous facts, we 
will, no doubt, blush because of our former igno- 
rance and mistrust, and shout with flaming tongues, 
"The half was not told V 

[170] 



THE HALF HAS NOT BEEN TOLD 

6. When from that high view-point we obtain a 
more perfect knowledge of God's great universe, we 
will then awake more fully to the greatness of Jesus. 
We will realize more perfectly how much there was 
implied in the word omnipresent. When we remem- 
ber that the universe is so vast that if one should 
shoot forth arrows, east, west, north and south, at 
the velocity of a hundred and eighty-six thousand 
miles per second, they would fly for ever and never 
reach side, bottom or shore. And yet our Savior oc- 
cupies all of this space. What a wonderful Savior! 

7. When we shall behold the King of kings, the 
Proprietor of immortality, unsearchable Jehovah, 
the all-seeing Invisible One, seated upon His snow- 
white throne, amid a sea of jasper, in that far-off 
land, what will it be? Yes, we shall behold His 
hair, which is like lamb's wool as white as snow, 
and His face above the brightness of a million suns. 
Think of His love-lit eyes and musical voice ! Think 
of the ineffable glory that will surround His throne. 
These stupendous revelations and millions more 
w^ill again force us to exclaim, "The half was not 
told!" 

Now, for fear that we have become a little ex- 
cited on just arriving at home and are somewhat 
over-rating things, let us make a few inquiries from 
those who have been here many years before we 
came. There stands pious Abel over on Hallelujah 
avenue. Let us ask him about things here. *'Say, 
Abel, how about this Jesus and His kingdom and 
glory ?'^ Abel replies in the following words, *'I 

[171] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



have been tenting on these everlasting hills, roam- 
ing these blooming fields that skirt the stream of 
life, drinking at the amber well of bliss, and listen- 
ing to the rich and mnltitudinous harmonies of 
angel harps every moment for six thousand years, 
and I declare unto you the half has not been told.'' 
That's pretty good. Brother Abel, but you haven't 
been here long enough. We will go over here near 
the great white throne and inquire of the first-born 
sons of light who serenaded Jehovah while He laid 
the foundation of the earth, created the sun and 
moon, and draped the spangling arch with billions 
of starry lamps. '^Say, Gabriel, Michael and Oriel, 
how about this man Jesus Christ, His glory and the 
duration of His kingdom? Is there any end to it?" 
^^No, only the end at which you have entered ! The 
half has not been told !' '^ 



[1721 



XLVII 
FOXFIKE 

"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either 
of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense 
thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He 
commanded them not'* (Lev. 10:1). 

If we were permitted to give the text a modern 
interpretation, the latter part of it would read as 
follows: ^^And offered fowflre before the Lordy 
which He commanded them not." 

As there are lots of imitations to-day in the jew- 
elry and dry goods world, so there are in the relig- 
ious world. We must ever bear the thought in mind 
that every one who shouts and pretends to be happy 
is not saved. John said we were to try the spirits to 
see whether they be of God or not. 

The title, ^^foxfire/^ which heads this chapter, de- 
rived its name from a soft, jelly-like substance 
which the sun and wet weather extracts from decay- 
ing logs in the forest. At night this peculiar sub- 
stance sheds forth a dull, pale light. It is called 
"foxfire'' because, at night, it somewhat resembles 
real fire. The term "foxfire," in the religious world, 
is used when reference is being made to counterfeit 
religion. In this chapter we want to describe a few 
of the special features of "foxfire" which greatly re- 
semble those of counterfeit religion. We may not 
be able to give the reader a perfect photo ; however, 

[173] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



we shall endeavor to tell him enough about it so 
that he will be able to recognize it when he sees it. 

1. The first amusing feature about ^'foxfire'' is 
this: it has to stay in darkness to exist. To bring 
it into the light means to spoil and destroy its lus- 
ter. We have often wondered how those worldly 
churches could have such apparent good meetings 
and how their members could scream, run and shout 
so high, while at the same time they were walking 
in forbidden paths, chewing tobacco, drinking beer, 
desecrating the Sabbath and sinning every day in 
word, deed and thought. But later on, we discovered 
that the greater part of what they had was foxfire, 
and would not exist in the light. However, they did 
not want any gospel light. If they were brought 
into a good, clean, red-hot gospel meeting where the 
true light was shining, they would be under as much 
condemnation as any sinner in town. They could no 
more shout and rejoice in such a meeting than a 
man could fly to heaven with a pair of lead wings. 
They can only shout in their own company, where 
they have their own standard set up, and the con- 
fidence of each other. But a man who is really 
saved and filled with Holy Ghost fire can shout and 
rejoice anywhere, whether people believe in him or 
not. 

2. A second interesting fact about foxfire is, it 
is void of heat, and sends out a chilled, deadening 
influence. This clearly explains why a good, red- 
hot meeting takes such a sudden change and drops 
in temperature after one of these sin-pleading, 

[174] 



FOXFIEE 



holiness-hating, tobacco-chewing, beer-drinking and 
lodge-indorsing professors of religion gives in his 
testimony. 

3. Still another noticeable, as well as amusing, 
feature about foxfire is, it thrives more rapidly in 
low, marshy places. So does counterfeit religion. 
Its possessors do not care to join and take their 
stand with any clean, radical, orthodox church, but 
like to run loose and associate with those missions 
where the standard of piety is as shallow as duck 
tracks. This class of people do not want to be 
reined up by a church discipline, or have a strict, 
godly man to watch over their souls, but like to run 
all over the country, profess everything and live 
nothing. 

4. Again, foxfire is misleading. It is something 
on the Jack-o-lantern order; at night it leads the 
confused traveler from the right path into the muck, 
mire and briary tangles ; so does counterfeit religion 
and holiness. It eases up on self, makes excuses for 
the old man, and ridicules the cross and the narrow 
way. One of these religious apes can sow more seeds 
of compromise, dissatisfaction, lawlessness, draw- 
back and let down among the converts in a single 
meeting than the pastor and class-leaders can 
gather up and undo in five months. 

5. Finally. It is a sui^e sign of decay. It 
never grows on good, sound timber, but on that class 
which is in decline. Many who once had good ex- 
periences have let down, cooled oflf and taken up 
with foxfire. They can imitate the real to perfec- 

[175] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



tion, but are perfectly dead. Their prayers, testi- 
monies, exhortations or sermons, neither burn nor 
bless any one. There is no more power or heat in 
what they say than there is in painted sunshine or 
midnight moonbeams. 

Eeader, let us pay the price and have the genu- 
ine. 



[176] 



XLVIII 
THAT OLD SEEPENT 

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole 
world : he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were 
cast out with him" (Kev. 12:9). 

The Bible parables are very simple, yet they are 
wonderfully significant. As we read the word ^^ser- 
pent/' instantly there comes before our mind's eye, 
a large, speckled, green-eyed, fork-tongued, hissing 
serpent, wdth its head raised in the air, ready to 
strike, while its body forms a deadly coil. 

This title, no doubt, was given to Satan because 
of his aflaiiation with the serpent in the garden of 
Eden. However, let that be as it may, we are all 
willing to admit that it is a very fitting title for the 
old deceiver. Whenever we behold the wreck and 
ruin of sin throughout the land, it would not be 
speaking amiss to say to those about us, "Behold, 
the works of the old serpent.'' It may be w^ell at 
this point to call the attention of the reader to a 
few of the many ways in w^hicli a serpent greatly 
resembles Satan, the archfiend of hell. 

The serpent is wise, crafty and keeps out of sight. 
In the fields and forests it is a common thing to see 
sparrows, rabbits, toads, etc., but it is a rare thing 
to see a serpent. It is true, we often see signs, indi- 
cating the fact that one has passed that way, but we 

[1773 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



seldom ever overtake it. In the state of Pennsyl- 
vania, about tliirty-five years ago, it is said an un- 
usually large serpent was found in a rock cave. It 
was so shrewd and subtle that it had avoided being 
detected for many years. A company of men, how- 
ever, pursued it on horseback, but it outran them 
all, killed a child in its way, and escaped into Lake 
Erie. This strikingly reminds us of how Satan 
keeps out of sight and in the background. We often 
hear people make the following remarks: ^^There is 
no devil ; we never see any signs of him." They fail 
to realize that through this very method Satan 
captures more souls than through any other. 

The serpent resembles Satan from the standpoint 
that it is every one's enemy. It has no favorites, 
but with equal enmity and deadly hate, lives in 
readiness to make war with each member of the hu- 
man race. Equally so is it with Satan; from the 
days of Adam to the present time he has been an 
enemy to all of woman born. It is true he often 
makes suggestions to the thoughtless souls, which 
fact sometimes leads them to think him interested 
in their welfare, but it is false. He never trifles, 
but always shoots to kill. 

Another striking way in which the serpent re- 
sembles Satan is in the fact that it captures all of 
its victims through an alluring influence. One day 
a man noticed a sparrow flying first up then down, 
and then in a circle. In the meantime, it continued 
to chirp in a pitiful, lamentable way. The man's 
curiosity urged him to investigate matters in order 

[178] 



THAT OLD SEKPENT 



that he might see what the trouble was. On nearing 
the spot he saw a large serpent with its head lifted 
two or three feet in the air, and in perpetual mo- 
tion, while its eyes were steadily fixed upon the 
sparrow. The sparrow could not get away, but was 
simply flying up and down, and around and around. 
The serpent had succeeded in charming it. This is 
similar to the way Satan allures and captures sin- 
ners. Often sinners are asked why they do not re- 
frain from attending the dance halls, the theaters, 
the smoking clubs, the gambling dens, the billiard 
halls and the saloons. But their pitiable reply is, 
"We can not, there is something about those places 
that commands our presence." 

Yet, again, the serpent resembles the old deceiver 
in the way it slowly but surely twines its body 
around its victim and finally gets a deadly hold. A 
hunter, one day on passing through a dense forest 
in a foreign land, was suddenly startled by the 
savage growls of a fierce lion, some distance ahead 
in the jungles. He stepped forward quietly to see 
if he could get sight of it. The following objects 
met his gaze: A large serpent, about fifteen or 
eighteen feet, with its tail twined around a suspend- 
ing limb of a tree, had swung its body down and 
coiled it tightly around a lion. The lion was tear- 
ing the serpent's head with its claws, and also 
making many a desperate effort to free himself. But 
the slimy, coiled monster slowly tightened its hold 
and crushed the lion to death. This is a life-sized 
picture of the man whom Satan has slyly, but surely 

[179] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



bound, with the drink, the tobacco, and the opium 
habit. It is true the poor victim struggles hard to 
free himself by signing ^'the pledge'' and taking the 
^^gold and Keeley cure/' and also by making many 
a stern resolution on Christmas and New Year's 
day, but in spite of all of his efiforts, he drops into 
the grave a hopeless victim of Satan. The only 
remedy to be found in all the world for such a soul 
is the salvation of Jesus Christ. The good book 
says, ^^If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye 
shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). 

Another way in which there is a marked resem- 
blance existing between the serpent and Satan, is 
that the serpent inflicts an incurable wound upon 
men's bodies. Satan inflicts a deadly wound upon 
the souls of men, which can be cured only by the 
blood of the immaculate Son of God. 

A final way in which the serpent resembles Sa- 
tan is, it devours its victim alive. It is said a ser- 
pent will not eat a dead animal of any kind. Some 
years ago a man discovered a large snake in his 
yard, with quite a knot in its body, up near the neck. 
He struck the snake with a club, and out of its 
mouth leaped a large toad which hurriedly hopped 
away. The snake had swallowed it alive. 

We have all, no doubt, seen that old withered 
hag, foul harlot, or loathsome drunkard in the 
alley or gutter, whom Satan, the old serpent, has 
devoured alive. Almost every person who has seen 
such sights turns his head in another direction, and 
quickly walks away. 

[180] 



XLIX 
PAEABLE OF THE GOOD SAMAEITAN 

"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericlio, 
and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, 
and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead'* 
(Luke 10:30). 

When spiritually applied, we have here a strik- 
ing picture of the sinner, Satan, false religion, and 
the Savior. This certain man typifies or stands for 
the whole human race. ^^From Jerusalem to Jeri- 
chop means from innocence to guilty from purity to 
ranfc defilement^ from hlessing to curses, and from 
weal to woe. 

^'Fell among thieves.'^ This thief was the devil, 
the archfiend of hell, the traitor of God and miner 
of men. ^^Stripped him of his raiment/^ Let us 
notice some of the things of which Satan, the old 
robber, has stripped us. He has stripped us of the 
robe of Edenic purity^ childhood innocence, strength 
of will and power of self-control. ^^He left him half 
dead'' from dissipation and revelry, viz., with con- 
sumption, stomach trouble, the cigarette, cocaine 
and opium habit. These are days when it is almost 
a matter of impossibility to find a physically sound 
man or woman. Truly, with the death-dealing in- 
struments of fashion, pleasure, gormandizing, mid- 
night revelry and self-indulgence, Satan has left 
almost the entire human family ^^half dead J' 

[181] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



^^And by chance there came down a certain priest 
that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on 
the other side.'^ We know not of a more perfect pic- 
ture of formal, dignified religion, or in other words, 
head-religion, than this, that which fills the head 
and freezes the heart. It is so far from being able 
to transform, purify and elevate a human soul, that 
it is compared to a man on the other side of the 
street. ^^And likewise a Levite, when he was at the 
place, came and looked on him, and passed by on 
the other side.'' This class of men was appointed 
to serve the tabernacle. Its religion consisted 
wholly in work, work, work. This Levite did not 
seem to have an ounce of love, pity or sympathy for 
a human soul, but simply had mechanical religion. 
Eeader, it may be somewhat of a surprise for you to 
know that all of these Levites are not dead. There 
are hundreds of them in almost every city working 
for the Lord(?), making ice-cream, oyster soup, 
cakes, selling tickets and soliciting money to get a 
pipe organ and to build a new church. However, 
they have never felt an ounce of soul burden or 
prayed a soul through to victory in all of their lives. 
They are as ignorant of what it means to prevail 
with God and pray a soul through as a hog is of the 
Greek alphabet. 

^^But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came 
where he was ; and when he saw him he had compas- 
sion on him." This good Samaritan beautifully rep- 
resents Jesus Christ and His wonderful salvation. 
Notice, first, he came where he was. If Jesus would 

[182] 



PAEABLE OF THE GOOD SAMAEITAN 

come to only those who live in gilded palaces, the 
poor drunkard, the harlot, the widow and the home- 
less beggar would have no part or lot in the matter. 
But thanks be to God, He comes where we are. He 
not only comes where we are, but also hinds up our 
wounds^ i. e., does something for us. Where Satan, 
the old robber, has w^ounded us with the drink habit, 
the swearing habit, the tobacco habit and many 
other habits, Christ binds up the wounds, and de- 
livers us from every unnatural appetite. 

'^Pouring in oil and wine,' viz., joy and gladness. 
^^8et Imn on his own heast/^ that is, he lifts us up 
to the same plane of purity and virtue that He Him- 
self occupies. "Brought him to an inn, and took 
care of himf' that is, put him in a good, clean 
church where he could be trained and developed in 
the things of God. 

The wild, anarchistic teaching afloat in the land 
to-day that those who get converted are not to con- 
nect themselves with any church, is from the bottom- 
less pit and not from heaven. 

The blessed Holy Spirit is the host, the inn- 
keeper; therefore He is sure to take care of the chil- 
dren of God until Jesus either sends for them by the 
messenger death, or comes for them Himself in the 
clouds of heaven. Oh, hallelujah to the Lamb ! 



[183] 



THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING 

*'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's 
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt. 
7:15). 

When we look about us and see the many de- 
ceivers and false prophets that are flooding the land, 
like the locust of Egypt, we are all compelled to ad- 
mit that the flight of time has not removed the need 
of this powerful exhortation. 

The truth conveyed through this striking para- 
ble informs us of the fact that it is possible for peo- 
ple to have the outward form of a Christian and not 
be one at heart. 

Now, since Jesus compares them to wolves in 
sheep's clothing, let us carefully notice some of the 
ways by which a wolf in sheep's clothing may be de- 
tected, so that we may be on the lookout for the 
wolf. 

1. The first simple and easy method by which 
the wolf may be detected is, that his external ap- 
pearance does not harmonize with his disposition. 
It is true he resembles a sheep, but his snarly, con- 
tentious, wiry, grumbling, retaliating, impulsive and 
sour disposition, unmistakably evidences the fact 
that he is a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

2. Notwithstanding his high jumps, loud halle- 
lujahs, long prayers, orthodox testimonies and con- 

[184] 



THE WOLF IN SHEEFS CLOTHING 

stant ^'Amen, amen/' there is something about his 
voice that causes the cold chills to come over the 
clean saints, and besides, makes them feel burdened 
and heavy hearted. Of course, his testimonies are 
orthodox, his illustrations striking and his apparent 
knowledge of the Scripture wonderful, yet there is 
something about his spirit that causes the real saints 
to mistrust and shun him. The reason for this may 
be seen in the following statement : He is a wolf in 
sheep's clothing. In many instances a number of 
the young and unestablished Christians will take to 
such a fellow, and think him a wonderful man of 
God, simply because he talks well and quotes a lot 
of Scripture. But to our mind this makes him the 
more dangerous. 

3. His statements, under close investigation, do 
not prove true, viz., where he w^as born, when and 
how many times he has been married, where and 
with whom he last labored in gospel work, how 
many different denominations he has been connected 
with, when and by whom ordained, etc. Whenever 
he relates these facts to the second party they are 
somewhat different from the way in which he told 
them to the first party. Why? Because he is a 
wolf in sheep's clothing. 

4. The next way by which the wolf may be de- 
tected is by the denomination of food he likes. The 
sheep likes clover and Jiai/, but the wolf likes flesh. 
The real saint's chief pursuit in life is to keep 
blest and get souls saved and sanctified. This is 
his chief pursuit everywhere. But the wolf is always 

[185] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



on the lookout for free-will offerings and gifts. He 
is of a forward disposition and is always begging 
the people of God for something. He is constantly 
speaking of his needs, with a secret hope that they 
will give him something. A man came into our office 
one day and did not see anything lying around on 
the desk in the way of money but some postage 
stamps, so he asked for a part of them. 

5. Yet another sure way by which the wolf can 
be detected is in his motion and walk. The wolf 
has a quick, bouncing up and down movement. He 
does not travel smoothly^ evenly and uniformly. 
Neither does the wolf in sheep's clothing live a 
smooth, even, victorious Christian life, but is some- 
times up and sometimes doivn. The reason for this 
is because he is kept under a constant strain trying 
to live something which he does not possess. Of 
course, this accounts for his inconsistency. 

6. Still another way by which the wolf can be 
detected is by his tracks. The sheep has a parted 
hoof, but the wolf has paws and claws like a dog. 
The religious imitator can also be detected by his 
hack tracks — the cities and places where he jumped 
his board bill, house rent, furniture bill, doctor bill, 
etc. Why did he do this? Because he was a wolf 
in sheep's clothing. 

7. And yet another way of detecting the wolf 
in sheep's clothing is to take special notice of how 
the seams and ragged edges of his garment join. 
If there are no seams or ragged edges, but a uniform 
evenness, he is a sheep and not a wolf. The seams 

[186] 



THE WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING 

and ragged edg^s, when spiritualized, may stand 
for slackness in conversation, jesting, exaggerating, 
broken promises, lightness, worldly-mindedness, or 
on the Sabbath day doing such things as writing 
letters, sending telegrams, polishing shoes, bathing 
or shaving. These small things generally indicate 
whether a person is genuine or false. 

8. How discreetly one conducts himself around 
the opposite sex, and also how careful and conscien- 
tious he is when handling other people's money, gen- 
erally indicates whether he is genuine or false. 



[187] 



LI 

THE SEVEN STEPS TO THE SAVIOR 

"Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and ttiy flesh shall 
come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean" (2 Kings 
5:10). 

Here we have a beautiful picture of the sinner 
and the seven required steps to reach the Savior, and 
get rid of sin. 

Leprosy is used in the picture as a type of sin, 
doubtless for the following reasons: 1. All classes 
have it. 2. It is incurable by human skill. 3. It 
destroys and blights. It is a hereditary disease. 4. 
It becomes loathsome to all classes, and finally re- 
sults in separation and death. 

Let us briefly notice the seven steps he took to 
get rid of the leprosy, and also briefly paraphrase 
them in order. 

1. He was at a place where it did not take five 
or six persons to awaken him in order that his need 
would be revealed. He was so hungry that he gladly 
accepted the message from a little maid. Evidently, 
he had no prejudice whatever against women 
preachers. When men get sick of sin and anxious 
for God, they are willing to accept the gospel mes- 
sage from the poorest and most illiterate creature 
in the world. 

2. He did not try to excuse, conceal or cover up 
his disease, but frankly admitted that he was a 

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THE SEVEN STEPS TO THE SAVIOK 

leper, and by so doing it put him in a position to 
obtain assistance from those about him. No one 
who tries to stand on his own morality and good 
qualities is in a place to receive help from God or 
the saints. He must frankly admit to God and man 
that he is a sinner and stands greatly in need of a 
Savior. The record says, Naaman was a captain^ a 
great man^ an honorable man and also a mighty man 
of valor; iut he was a leper. He had a disease that 
put him not only on a level with the poorest man 
in the world, but also far beneath the brute family. 

3. He not only acknowledged his plague, but 
became so mightily concerned and anxious about be- 
ing healed that he did not care who knew that he 
was a seeker. He was not like many persons of to- 
day, who are ashamed to have their society friends 
see them seeking God. Naaman broke the news to 
the king and all about him. Eeader, it requires this 
same determination and diligence to get rid of sin 
to-day. 

4. He became so greatly in earnest that he was 
willing to give not only himself to the Lord, but also 
his money (2 Kings 5:5). The twentieth century 
religion works largely in people's heads, and does 
not reach their hearts and pocketbooks. We notice 
the man in Ezekiel's vision got into the river of 
grace not only up to his ankles and knees, but also 
up to his loins where his pocketbook could get bap- 
tized. A man does not have to get sanctified before 
he gives his money to God. He has to give it in 
order to be a Christian. Moses, when preparing to 

[189] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



go out of Egypt into the wilderness to serve God, 
found it necessary to take every thing , and not leave 
a hoof behind. 

5. Naaman, in reaching the cure, did not have a 
smooth, pleasant road all the way, but met some un- 
favorable circumstances and stubborn opposition. 
The first thing he met, which somewhat beclouded 
his anticipations, was a cool reception from the king 
of Israel (2 Kings 5:7). The seeker may sometimes 
receive a cold reception from even the preacher; 
however, he must not let this impede his progress, 
but must go on. The next thing met, which greatly 
chilled his fervor and brought a dampness over him, 
was the way in which he was received by the prophet, 
and also the prescription prescribed for his recovery. 
He had a way of his own planned out, by which he ex- 
pected to receive the blessing, which was quite dif- 
ferent from Elisha's prescription. This was such 
an awful disappointment that it well nigh upset 
him, and almost caused him to go back and give up. 
Preconceived notions and human air-castles are 
usually great hindrances to souls seeking God. They 
expect Him to bless them according to their plan 
and ideas, and, on being disappointed, become con- 
fused. 

6. The next awful jolt that he received, which 
greatly prepared him for the cure, was that Ms 
proudy stiff ivill teas broken^ and he humbly sub- 
mitted to the will and dictates of his inferior. We 
do not usually know what kind of a spirit and will 
some people have until we cross them. God knew 

[190] 



THE SEVEN STEPS TO THE SAVIOR 

this stiff, self-willed spirit had to be broken before 
he could obtain the cure (2 Kings 5:11). This 
spirit fluttered and raged for a few moments, but 
finally came dov/n and submitted when the servants 
said, ^^My father, if the prophet had bid thee do 
some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? 
how much rather then, when he saith to thee. Wash, 
and be clean ?'^ It always requires a humble and 
contrite spirit to obtain a blessing from God. Da- 
vid said, ^^The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: 
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not 
despise'' (Psa. 51:17). 

7. Finally, he had to obey the sayings of the 
man of God to the letter. He did not receive the 
cure after dipping four times, nor five. Neither did 
he receive it after going down the sixth time. He 
could have said, like many do to-day, ^^Oh, that was 
man who said that: I do not have to do every- 
thing that man says; I have dipped six times, that 
is near enough. We are not expected to do every- 
thing the preacher says. We are not to live up to 
his convictions, but are to live up to our own. There 
are none of us perfect." It required perfect ohedi- 
ence to the letter for him to obtain the cleansing. 
So does it to-day. If we would go clear through 
and get the witness and strike fire, we must meet 
all the conditions. 



[191] 



LII 
SAUL, BALAAM AND SOLOMON 

The persons whose names compose the title of 
this chapter are among the most prominent back- 
sliders of Bible times. God, being aware of the 
fact that there is no state of grace attainable in this 
life from which men can not fall, if they fail to 
watch and pray, has almost exhausted the entire Bi- 
ble in admonishing and instructing them how to 
retain the grace of God and live a holy life. 

For the special benefit of the reader, we want to 
briefly mention some of the principal acts which 
caused these men to lose their way in God. We sin- 
cerely hope these remarks will serve as an age-abid- 
ing monument of warning to both reader and 
writer. 

Let us take up the life of Saul and carefully 
notice the dark, disastrous steps which led to his 
ruin. First, it may be necessary to prove to the 
reader that he at one time did possess the grace of 
God. Samuel said to him in the sixth verse of the 
tenth chapter of 1 Samuel, ^'And the Spirit of the 
Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy 
with them, and shalt be turned into another man.'' 
The ninth verse reads as follows : "And it was so, 
that, when he had turned his back to go from Sam- 
uel, God gave him another heart." 

[192] 



SAUL, BALAAM AND SOLOMON 

Let us next notice what the sacred record says 
about him losing the Spirit ; that is, about him back- 
sliding, ^^But the Spirit of the Lord departed from 
Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled 
[terrified] him'^ (1 Sam. 16:14). Before entering 
into details, let us read his death-bed testimony, so 
to speak ; for people usually like to hear what a man 
has to say on his last day upon earth. ^^And Saul 
answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines 
make war against me, and God is departed from me, 
and answereth me no more'' (1 Sam. 28: 15). 

Let us briefly notice the five steps which landed 
him into a lake of fire and brimstone. 1. He 'broke 
with God in his affections and secret Ufe^ and lost 
that high-class^ careful^ holy esteem which he had 
previously held for God and His ways. Header, 
think of this! 2. He wilfully disobeyed a plain 
command. This, of course, was a natural result of 
his inward condition. Whenever people break with 
God in their affections, it is easy to violate His law 
(1 Sam. 15: 3-9). 3. The third downward step was, 
he lost his temper and manifested a bad spirit to- 
ward the folks at home. It is an invariable fact that 
whenever people have an inward break, they usually 
become touchy, crabbed, hard to please and hard to 
live with (1 Sam. 18:10,11). 4. He became self- 
willed^ head-strong, overhearing and hard-hearted. 
In his anger and pride he ordered eighty-five priests 
to be slain (1 Sam. 22: 18). The most unreasonable 
and overbearing class of people found in the world 
are conceited backsliders. Some months ago a back- 

[193] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



slider of this type was riding along in his auto, when 

suddenly he stopped in the middle of the street and 
exclaimed, ** Something has grabbed me/'^ He was ill 
just a few days, and then passed into eternity to 
meet a rejected Eedeemer. 5. The last downward 
step which completed his ruin and landed him in a 
lake of fire, was public opinion and the fear of man. 
He, no doubt, would have obeyed God, had he not 
been afraid of what people thought. Ah me I at that 
point dropped the black curtain of a wasted life, 
while these hopeless words died on the breaker of 
time, "God is departed from me and answereth me 
no morel'' 

The prophet Balaam is the next character whose 
^•uin we promised to investigate in the beginning of 
this chapter. Let us hurriedly notice the four brief 
steps which led to his ruin. 

1. He rushed ahead of the Spirit of God and 
did as lie wanted to, but not according to divine in- 
structions. The instructions which he received from 
God in Num. 22 : 20 were, not to go unless the men 
^came and called for him. Notice how it reads: ^^If 
the men come to call thee^ rise up, and go with 
them.-' The above words were to be Balaam's fleece, 
but he did not wait to see whether it would get wet 
or not (Judges 6: 3640). The twenty-first verse ex- 
plains how he yielded to a hasty spirit and ran ahead 
of the Spirit of God. Notice how it reads. It does 
not say the men came and called for him, but reads 
as follows: "And Balaam rose up in the morning, 
and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of 



SAUL, BALAAM AND SOLOMON 

Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he 
went'' (Num. 22:21,22). 

2. His next downward step was, he yielded 
somewhat to the temptation of money and profn- 
inence. Thousands of spirit-filled men have failed 
at this point. Listen to old Brother Paul's advice 
on this subject. ^^But godliness with contentment is 
great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, 
and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And 
having food and raiment, let us be therewith con- 
tent. But they that will be rich fall into tempta- 
tion, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurt- 
ful lusts, which drown men in destruction and 
perdition. For the love of money is the root of all 
evil : which while some coveted after, they have erred 
from the faith, and pierced themselves through with 
many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these 
things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, 
faith, love, patience, meekness" (1 Tim. 6: 6-11). 

3. The next disastrous step which he took, was 
compromising with people of inferior light. The 
prophet Balaam was not the only professor of relig- 
ion who made this serious mistake. Hundreds of 
church members on finding out that their pastor and 
church do not indorse dancing, theater-going, base- 
ball, card-playing, etc., withdraw from that church 
and seek a church and pastor who do not condemn 
such things. Sometimes, genuinely saved persons 
get tried, and while under this pressure, withdraw 
from the clean, radical church in which they were 
saved, and become a member of some formal, 

[195] 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



worldly church. This is done many times at the 
cost of their immortal souls. 

4. The final step which grieved God away, shut 
up heaven over his soul and made him a candidate 
for helps corrosive flames was, he was persistent 
and determined to do the thing which God had told 
him several times not to do. In reading the twenty- 
third and twenty-fourth chapters of the book of 
Numbers, it really stirs one's righteous indignation 
to see how many attempts Balaam made to curse Is- 
rael even after God had told him they were blest. 
Twenty years of careful observation have convinced 
us of the fact that all of the posterity of Balaam are 
not dead, for many times nowadays, when people 
get their minds made up to perform an act, it seems 
an utter impossibility for the class-leader, the 
preacher, or God to get them turned. There are 
hundreds of unhappy married couples in the land to- 
day because they became headstrong and would not 
take advice. There are also many broken-hearted 
girls throughout the country wearing the conspicu- 
ous badge of shame and disgrace, because they would 
not take instruction. Equally so are the jails and 
penitentiaries filled with promising, noble young 
men, who landed there through the gate of ^^hating 
instruction/^ The good book says, ^^If ye be willing 
and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But 
if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the 
sword^' (Isa. 1:19,20). 

The next and last character to which we give 
place in this chapter is King Solomon, and the four 

[196] 



SAUL, BALAAM AND SOLOMON 

disastrous steps which led to his sudden downfall 
and irreparable ruin. 

1. The first thing which caused him to lose his 
equilibrium and start on his hellward drift was neg- 
lecting to keep prayed up. He had so many things 
to occupy his mind that he lost out in his prayer 
life. 

2. The second thing which greatly assisted in 
sealing his ruin, was too much self-indulgence. 
Any time a spiritual man or woman becomes glut- 
tonous, extravagant and a slave to appetite, they are 
undoubtedly in a spiritual decline and nearing a 
fall. 

3. Still another thing which greatly assisted in 
paving the way to ruin was associating too fre- 
quently with the opposite sex. One of the surest 
ways to ruin in the world is to grow slack at this 
point. It would have been well, no doubt, for Solo- 
mon to have taken a few doses of his own advice 
found in Prov. 5 : 1-5, where he said, ^^My son, at- 
tend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my 
understanding; that thou mayest regard discretion, 
and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips 
of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her 
mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as 
wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet 
go down to death, her steps take hold on hell." 

4. The last thing which cast the die and sealed 
his irretrievable doom was pride and dishonesty of 
heart. From all appearances, he was too proud to 
confess his backslidings, humble himself and get 

[197] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



back to God. Thousands, since the days of Solo- 
mon, have made a similar mistake by yielding to 
pride and dishonesty, and have landed in a lake of 
fire and brimstone, ^ 'Where their worm dieth not 
and the fire is not quenched.'' 

"But when the concentrated light of God, 
As sunbeams in a burning-glass condensed, 
Fell on bis naked spirit, it toucb'd, it woke 
Tbe dormant sense witbin bim : and a moan 
Stifled was beard ; and migbty sbudderings 
Sbook bis colossal frame ; for in tbat ligbt 
His pride was despicable littleness, 
His wisdom idiot folly, and bis lies 
Rent cobwebs in the torturing glare of truth." 



[198] 



LIII 
DWELLING DEEP 

"Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of 
Hazor, saith the Lord'' (Jer. 49:30). 

"An allusion is here made to the custom of the 
Arabs, who, when about to be attacked by a power- 
ful foe, strike their tents, pack up their utensils, 
lade their camels, which they can do in a couple of 
hours, and set ofif to the great desert, and so bury 
themselves in it that no enemy either will or can 
pursue." 

The word "deep'' is used only a few times in the 
New Testament; nevertheless, wherever it is used, 
it carries a wonderful significance. Note just a few 
quotations: "Launch out into the deep'' (Luke 5: 
4); ''Digged deep'' (Luke 6:48); ''For the Spirit 
searcheth all things^ yea^ the deep things of Ood" 
(1 Cor. 2:10). 

The word "deep" naturally suggests the opposite 
to shallowness, lightness and frivolity. In other 
words, it means that we are to be rooted and 
grounded in the love of God, and wholly devoted to 
His service. All of this is implied in the words 
"dwelling deep." The text is a timely exhortation 
to the holiness people of modern times, for, no mat- 
ter in what direction we look, deep spirituality 
seems to be on the wane. Instead of pious, plain- 

[199] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



attired, spirit-filled holiness advocates, as in former 
Years, the country is becoming infested with a tribe 
of proud, super-ficial, self-conceited, dressed-up pro- 
fessors of holiness, who have the theory, but are void 
of the Spirit and power. They are as far from the 
standard of purity, power and holy living, set up by 
the fathers of Methodism, as day is from night and 
heaven is from hell. 

Let us notice a few reasons why this exhortation 
should be given. 1. If we would successfully 
weather the fierce storms of error, fanaticism, com- 
promise and shallowness that are sweeping over the 
land to-day, unsettling almost everything and every- 
body, we must dwell deep in God. 

2. If we would be true, immovable way-marks 
to the glory world, holding an even light to perish- 
ing souls about us, we must learn the wondrous se- 
cret of diveUing deep. To mislead an immortal soul 
is one of the greatest crimes that can be committed 
by a human being. Oh, that men would properly 
realize this awful fact I We have all, no doubt, read 
of the disadvantage, inconvenience and perplexity 
brought upon early-day travelers through some mis- 
chievous boy turning the hands of the ^ide-post. 
Eeader, has some urchin of hell in the form of an 
angel of light succeeded in turning you from the 
true and tried way? Is your influence, which at 
one time was such a blessing to those about you, 
now sending forth an ill savor, and an uncertain 
sound? Are you pointing souls to heaven or hell? 

3. The early-day farmers and fruit growers, to 

[200] 



DWELLING DEEP 



prevent their vegetables and fruits from becoming 
affected by the frost and various changes of the fall 
and winter weather, used to dig deep holes and de- 
posit them in the earth. If we would have an ex- 
perience where we never become affected by the 
Jack Frost of slander, persecution, commendation, 
popularity and the love of money, we must go below 
the frost line and make our permanent abode in the 
deep vale of humanity. 

4. If we would always have an uninterrupted 
and unclouded vision of God and heavenly things, 
we must dwell deep. It has been said by some one 
that the stars in the firmament could be seen at 
noonday from the bottom of a deep well. So it is 
with one who dwells deep in God; he sees and re- 
flects the light of heaven upon a benighted world. 
He gets visions and revelations unseen by those 
about him. ^^He who walks with God carries in his 
very air and countenance a sweet serenity and holy 
joy that diffuses tranquility around. He who walks 
with God receives and imparts life whithersoever 
he goes; as it is written, ^Out of him shall flow 
rivers of living water.' '^ 

5. If we would be burden bearers and inter- 
cessors having power with God and with men, we 
must, with Christ, withdraw ourselves from the busy 
throng and dwell deep in God. No one can keep 
the spirit of prayer and soul burden who spends 
much time in social gossip. 

6. A final reason why we are to dicell deep in 
God is to secure ourselves from becoming top heavy 

[201] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



through spiritual pride, importance and a sense of 
our own goodness. He who expects to build high 
must dig deep. There are many radical, conscien- 
tious souls, who, unwarily, permit pride to slip in 
at this point. The reason for this, however, is as 
follows: They form too great an opinion of their 
own experience, sayings, sermons, methods, effi- 
ciency and advice. This is one of the most danger- 
ous snares for those who are greatly used of God 
that we could mention. Spiritual and financial suc- 
cess are storms which but few weather without 
being capsized and wrecking either on the rock of 
egotism or greed. Keader, walk carefully and dwell 
deeply in God. 

The next class of information we wish to give 
here, is how to dwell deep, for it is quite likely that 
some of our readers will obey the exhortation given 
in the text. 

1. He who would dwell deep must first dig deep. 
This can be done only by an unusual amount of 
prayer, fasting and self-denial. All persons of em- 
inent piety that we have ever seen or read about 
were persons who spent no small amount of time in 
prayer and fasting. Jesus Christ, the world's Ke- 
deemer, and holiest of men, found it necessary to 
spend whole nights in prayer and many days and 
weeks in fasting and self-denial. Paul, Wesley, 
Fletcher, Luther, Whitfield, Finney and others, 
spent hours daily in prevailing with God for them- 
selves and a lost world. Eeader, if you would dwell 
deep and have power with God and with the lost of 

[202] 



DWELLING DEEP 



earth, you, too, must have long and frequent sea- 
sons of lying before God in prayer. Three of the 
chief faults found among modern Christians are as 
follows: Eating too frequently^ talking too freely^ 
and praying but seldom. 

2. The next information we would give on how 
to dwell deep in God is, do not be in bondage to any- 
thing under the sun. Permit no temper, passion or 
appetite to have dominion over you. Keep everything 
beneath your feet. Always live in a place where 
you can say to every created thing, ^^This far and 
no farther!'^ Self-indulgence is the leaden weight 
that is hobbling many a soul and hindering them 
from launching into the deep with God. 

3. A third necessity in dwelling deep is to keep 
an exceedingly watchful spirit. Never go out of the 
watch-tower, for the flesh is not dead, neither is the 
devil asleep, but as a roaring lion, walketh about, 
seeking whom he may devour. Jesus said, ^^What I 
say unto you, I say unto all, watch." Watching is 
such an important duty that He placed it before 
prayer. He did not say, "Fraj and watch/' but 
^ Watch and pray.'' No one who does not live an ex- 
ceedingly watchful life at all times ever keeps an 
even experience. We are to keep a constant watch 
over our tongue, our appetite, our fancy and our in- 
firmities, or else, in an unguarded moment, they 
cause us to offend God. 

4. Still another thing necessary for those who 
would dwell deep in God is to keep clothed with a 
lowly, submissive spirit. One that mildly and 

[203] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



sweetly endures all kinds of ill usage, reviling and 
persecutions, without a murmur or stir of impa- 
tience. What saith the Word? ''Do all things with- 
out murmurings and disputings: That ye may be 
blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without 
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse na- 
tion, among whom ye shine as lights in the world'^ 
(Phil. 2:14,15). 

5. The next thing that will greatly assist us in 
dwelling deep is to learn the art of discerning the 
difference between theoretical Jwliness and the spirit 
of true holiness. There are numbers of good, honest 
souls switched at this point. They think every one 
who preaches and teaches holiness is in possession 
of the experience. They have not been awakened to 
the fact that over two-thirds of the modern holiness 
professors are nothing more or less than a lot of 
apostate compromisers who are trying to make peo- 
ple believe they can be sanctified wholly without dy- 
ing out to the world or meeting the conditions of 
God's Word. 

The fruit of true holiness is purity, perfect love, 
humility, self-denial and the fulness of the Holy 
Ghost; but the fruit of theoretical, man-made holi- 
ness is pride, stiffness, lightness, shallowness, world- 
liness, empty bluster and quick-time jingle. 

Pious John Wesley would be surprised should he 
rise from the dead and step into one of these shal- 
low holiness meetings where the leader wears a gold 
watch, gold glasses, gold stick pin, fashionably cut 
clothing, and patent-leather shoes, while all about 

[204] 



DWELLING DEEP 



him would sit a number of fashionable women with 
feathers, flowers and posies on their hats, costly 
silks and satins upon their persons. Many of these 
uncircumcised Philistines even try to shout and get 
blest while rigged out in low-necked waists, trans- 
parent hosiery, high-heeled shoes, and skirts that re- 
mind us of the skin on a sausage. And to top off the 
whole thing, they have the audacity to stand up and 
testify to being saved, sanctified and healed. In the 
pulpit sits a trim, fashionable, so-called holiness 
evangelist chirping "Amen,'' "Praise the Lord," "Al- 
le-lu-ia!" I say this state of affairs is enough not 
only to make John Wesley sad, but suflflicient also to 
make angels weep. 

It would be a blessing to the cause of God if 
these compromisers were run out of the country. 
Keader, Bible holiness has not changed one iota, but 
is identically the same as it was when Paul penned 
the following lines to the Thessalonians : "And the 
very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray 
God your whole spirit, and soul and body be pre- 
served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ'' (1 Thess. 5: 23). O Lord, give us something 
deep and solid, no matter what the cost may be ! 

6. The next incentive to dwelling deep is to es- 
tablish it in our minds that Jesus Christ is our pat- 
tern, and that our entire life is to be a copy of His. 
We should make it our chief aim and pursuit on 
earth to be Christlike in all of our dealings, words 
and thoughts. This can be done, however, only 
through much prayer, self-denial and watchfulness. 

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IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



Xo doubt, the testimony of John Wesley would 
be of great importance at this point. ^'In the year 
1725 J being the twenty-third year of my age, I met 
with Bishop Taylor's ^Eule and Exercises of Holy 
Living and Dying.' In reading several parts of this 
book, I was exceedingly affected; that part in par- 
ticular which relates to purity of intentions. In- 
stantly, I resolved to dedicate all my life to God, all 
my thoughts, and words, and actions, being thor- 
oughly convinced there was no medium, but that 
every part of my life, not some only, must either be 
a sacrifice to God, or myself ; that is, in effect, to the 
devil. 

^'Can any serious person doubt this, or find a me- 
dium between serving God and serving the devil ?'^ 

WTiat saith the voice of inspiration at this point? 
^^Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the 
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ" (EpL 4:13). 



[2061 



LIV 
PAUL'S JOUENEY TO KOME 

"And when it was determined that we should sail into 
Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto 
one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And en- 
tering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched" (Acts 
27:1,2), 

The blessed Bible is of such vast importance to 
the human family and contains such a variety of 
blessings, that it is no marvel that authors, philos- 
ophers and poets have spoken of it as being a "gold 
mine/' "fount of knowledge/' "lamp of life/' "flower 
garden/' "an art gallery/' and an "artesian well." 
While this is all true, the Bible is also the Chris- 
tian's geography, map and guide, which describe in 
minutest detail every inch of the country between 
earth and heaven. In the narration of Paul's jour- 
ney to Eome we have, in glowing colors, a perfect 
description of the spiritual journey from earth to 
heaven. Now, for our special edification, let us care- 
fully and prayerfully study this spiritual map and 
see how perfectly it points out the plains, hills, val- 
leys, tunnels and sloughs along our pathway home. 

1. In verse thirteen Paul and his company were 
carried for a season by a gentle south wind. The 
spiritual meaning of this "south wind" is calmness^ 
evenness, sweetness and tranquility of spirit. Every 
newly converted soul is borne for a season by these 

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IMPKESSIYE TALKS 



balmy breezes. During this joyous honeymoon, there 
does not seem to be such a thing as a cross, tempta- 
tion, trial or devil in the universe, but every day 
seems to be Sunday and every moment a jubilee of 
praise. 

2. In verse fourteen, we notice that immediately 
after this series of south winds, there arose a tem- 
pestuous wind called '^Euroclydon'^ or ''Levanter/^ 
Every Christian well remembers the time when this 
new epoch was introduced into his life; when for 
weeks or months he had been fanned by the balmy 
breezes of joy and peace, but suddenly one of the 
^^Euroclydon" storms of persecution, temptation, 
heaviness and darkness rushed in upon him. Had it 
not been for the advice of a more experienced Chris- 
tian, he would have been blown away. Saint Luke 
in verse eighteen says they were ^^exceedingly 
tossed/^ So will the beginner in the Christian life 
frequently find himself severely tossed by the winds 
of hell. However, we are glad to say that the grace 
of God is abundantly sufficient. 

3. We notice in verses eighteen and nineteen 
that the storm caused them to unload and throw 
overboard some cargo which they had previously 
thought they must have. It is true, joy and ecstasy 
play an important part in the Christian's life ; how- 
ever, God never uses them to regulate ^ disciptine or 
line up His children. He always uses storms, pres- 
sure, heaviness, fiery trials and darkness to bring 
this about. It takes these and these alone to bring 
us to the place where we will have a close self-ex- 

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PAUL'S JOUKNEY TO EOME 



amination and also unload bj^words, light, nonsensi- 
cal expressions, formality, unnecessary adornment, 
chewing gum (tobacco's substitute), and all doubt- 
ful conduct. A season of spiritual pressure and 
darkness has prevented many a soul from landing in 
hell. 

4. In verse twenty. Saint Luke informs us of 
the fact that they lost sight of the sun for many 
days. The beginner, before becoming established, 
may also lose sight of the sun of ^'feeling/' and be 
compelled to walk by faith for many days. However, 
there are two facts that are to be kept in mind. 
First, the sun was still shining behind the dense 
clouds. Second, they were still en route to Kome. 
Header, if you are walking in the light and obeying 
God on all lines, you are as much on the way to 
heaven when pressed, tempted and devoid of joy and 
feeling, as you are when filled with rapture. Not- 
withstanding these dark circumstances, Paul's faith 
reached beyond them and triumphantly exclaimed, 
^'I believe God!" 

5. The next source of encouragement revealed 
in the lesson is this: God always sends help and 
consolation in due time, even though it be at the last 
hour. Notice Paul's testimony in verse twenty-three : 
^^For there stood by me this night the angel of God, 
whose I am, and whom I serve." Paul did not brand 
himself a backslider simply because he had not seen 
the sun for many days, but held on by faith. 

6. The next thing seen in the experience of Paul 
at this time, which is quite similar to that of every 

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IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



Christian, is this : He was, for a time, severely cen- 
sured and criticised by a company of people who 
misunderstood him, but who later on were forced, by 
his life and conduct, to change their minds. Observe 
how it reads in Acts 28 : 3-6, ^^And when Paul had 
gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the 
fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened 
on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the 
venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among 
themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, 
though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suf- 
fereth not to live. And he shook oflf the beast into 
the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit, they looked 
when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead 
suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, 
and saw no harm come to him, they changed their 
minds, and said that he was a god.'^ They will do 
the same nowadays, if we keep true. 

7. The next point of interest seen in Paul's trip, 
which is quite similar to the Christian's journey to 
heaven, is in the fact that he had to take a second 
toat before he could reach his destination. You will 
notice in verse one that they began their journey 
on a boat bearing the name "Adramyttium" (justi- 
fication), but on meeting so many storms and heavy 
seas (so much trouble with the Old Man), they were 
shipwrecked. However, after a time of tarrying, 
they boarded another ship bearing the name "Castor 
and Pollux" (entire sanctification). In retrospect- 
ing the experiences of the children of God in both 
the old and new dispensations, we have discovered 

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PAUL'S JOUENEY TO KOME 



the fact that they also found it necessary to tarry 
and take a second boat, as the first one would not 
take them clear through. Abraham changed boats 
at Mamre (Gen. 17:1). Jacob changed at Jabbok 
(Gen. 32:28). Moses changed at the burning bush 
(Exod. 3). Isaiah changed in the year that King 
Uzziah died (Isa. 6), the disciples changed in the 
upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In 
Hebrews 12 : 14 Paul declares that it is absolutely 
necessary for every son and daughter of Adam, who 
expects to see the Lord, to take this second boat, 
namely, "holiness of heart,'' the baptism of the Holy 
Ghost and fire. 

8. The closing thought which the lesson conveys 
is: Notwithstanding all the disaster and danger 
met by Paul along the way, God was faithful in 
keeping His promise and taking him safely through 
to Eome. Just so will He take us safely through to 
heaven, if we continue to "trust and obey." He 
made the following promise ages ago and is well 
able to perform it: "Be thou faithful unto death, 
and I will give thee a crown of life" (Eev. 2: 10). 
It is true, life is a long, stormy voyage; how- 
ever, if we are faithful, God will surely take us 
through. 

Tho' tossed by the wind and waters I am, 

Far out on the ocean of time, 
V\\ soon be beyond the isthmus of life 

And home in the crystalline clime. 

The shadows of evening are falling fast, 
The sunbeams are gilding the west, 

[2111 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



The tow'rs of heaven are heaving in sight, 

I'm Hearing the land of the blest. 

And, oh. when I stand at the great white throne, 

Amid that redeemed holy throng, 
I'll worship the King and make heaven ring 

With praises unheard of in song. 



[212] 



LV 
THE BEGGAE LAZAEUS 

"And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, wMch 
was laid at his [the rich man's] gate, full of sores" (Luke 
16:20). 

In the Bible God has given us several examples 
of rock-riibed fidelity. In the life of Joseph we see 
it weathering a storm of severest slander. In the 
life of Daniel we find it swimming an almost shore- 
less sea of compromise. And in the life of the lion- 
hearted Paul, we find it flourishing in the vale of al- 
most universal persecution. In the above text 
God calls our attention to a flawless gem of fidel- 
ity, shining, with no common luster, from poverty's 
darkest background and in misfortune's most gloomy 
vale. 

Let us for a few moments closely observe this 
poor, unfortunate man. See him half clad, meager 
and sick, sitting at the rich man's gate. ^'Observe 
his pale cheek, his sunken eye. Listen to his long, 
lamentable groan which announces the want that 
gnaws within. See how the sun scorches and burns 
his defenseless head. Observe him still more closely. 
See how his limbs with palsy shake, while all his 
flesh is full of putrid sores and noisome wounds." 
Oh, what an object of pity, as he lies at the rich 
man's gate daily tortured by a grievous swarm of 
flies! 

[213] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



Now, reader, since so many people in times of 
adversity and persecution seem to feel justified in 
growing discouraged and turning from the path of 
righteousness, let us briefly notice the dire circum- 
stances under which this man kept true to God. 

1. According to verses twenty and twenty-one 
he did not have a friend on earth. He was alone in 
the cold, wide world. 

"Sad was the sight of widowed, childless age 

Weeping. I saw it once. Wrinkled with time, 

And hoary with the dust of years, an old 

And worthy man came to his humble roof, 

Tottering and slow, and on the threshold stood. 

No foot, no voice, was heard within. None came 

To meet him, where he oft had met a wife, 

And sons, and daughters, glad at his return ; 

None came to meet him ; for that day had seen 

The old man lay, within the narrow house. 

The last of all his family ; and now 

He stood in solitude, in solitude 

Wide as the world; for all, that made to him 

Society, had fled beyond its bounds. 

Wherever strayed his aimless eye, there lay 

The w^reck of some fond hope, that touched his soul 

With bitter thought, and told him all was passed." 

Many nowadays who start out to serve the Lord, 
soon become discouraged and turn from the way for 
the simple reason that their friends and relatives 
desert or censure them. But with Lazarus it was 
not so. No doubt, if the following lines had been 
composed at that time, he would have sung them 
with great fervor : 

[214] 



THE BEGGAR LAZAEUS 



"I'm going thro', I'm going tliro', 

I'll pay the price whatever others do; 

I'll take the way with the Lord's despised few, 

I'm going thro', Jesus, I'm going thro'." 

2. He was deprived of every creature comfort 
in the world. He had no home, no downy pillow, 
no bed upon which to recline, no easy chair, no car- 
peted floor, no mahogany sideboard, no china closet 
and no pantry filled with dainty meats and luscious 
fruit. Oh, what an opportunity for Satan to preach 
discouragement! But amidst it all he kept true to 
God. 

3. He was not only exposed to the wind, rain 
and torrid glare of the sun, but was fully exposed to 
every gale of temptation that blew. He was not 
only void of all the temporal blessings of life, but 
also deprived of all the means of grace, namely, the 
prayer meetings, class meetings, the preaching ser- 
vices, pastoral visits, religious literature, and the fel- 
lowship of the children of God. Most people, when 
in similar circumstances, grow cold and backslide. 

4. The next thing which made it extremely un- 
pleasant for this man was, he w^as an object of pub- 
lic scorn and contempt the livelong day. Some peo- 
ple, when laughed at and snubbed, become discour- 
aged, but this old veteran kept blest day after day 
amid floods of scorn and contempt. Nothing is said 
about his becoming discouraged and complaining 
about the way being hard. 

5. From an external view^-point, God, too, 
seemed to have forsaken him. Perhaps he had 

[215] 



IMPRESSIVE TALKS 



prayed a thousand tijnes to be healed, but no answer 
came. He may have implored God day after day to 
send the raven to feed him, but no answer came. All 
heaven seemed to turn a deaf ear to his importunate 
plea. Did he grow discouraged and cast away his 
confidence in God? Oh, no! he held steady and 
waited. He, no doubt, had long since learned that 
"the reward of waiting was a crown of life.'' 

6. The last and most disgraceful thing about 
him was, he died in the street. He evidently did not 
believe in secret orders and sick benefits. He re- 
minds us somewhat of the lowly Nazarene who was 
born in a manger, slept in the wilderness, died on a 
tree and was buried in a borrowed tomb. 

There are still a few remaining facts about this 
unfortunate man which deserve some consideration. 
They are as follows : 

1. This homeless, poverty-stricken, disease-rid- 
den man was not a child of the devil, but a son of 
God, an heir of heaven. It is true some fanatics 
try to make us believe that if a man is a true Chris- 
tian, he will never get sick or suffer any temporal 
need, but this doctrine does not harmonize with the 
teaching of the blessed old Bible. In Gen. 48 : 1 we 
read the following words concerning Jacob: "And 
it came to pass after these things, that one told Jo- 
seph, Behold, thy father is sick.'' We also read in 
2 Kings 1.3 : 14, "Now Elisha was fallen sick of his 
sickness whereof he died." Paul said, "But Trophi- 
mus have I left at Miletum sick" (2 Tim. 4:20). 
And regarding God's children sometimes being in 

[216] 



THE BEGGAR LAZAEUS 



destitute circumstances, Paul said, ^'I know both 
how to be abased, and I know how to abound : every 
where, and in all things I am instructed both to be 
full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer 
need" (Phil. 4:12). Jesus said, -^The foxes have 
holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the 
Son of man hath not where to lay His head" (Matt. 
8:20). 

2. Notwithstanding Lazarus' loathsome disease, 
excruciating pain and also God's apparent indiffer- 
ence, he kept true and died in the faith. He was not 
like hundreds to-day who on not being divinely 
healed, allow themselves to be switched from the 
true and tried way into Christian Science, Tongues 
and many other phases of error, trying to recover 
their health. We, too, like good old Lazarus, would 
rather die sick than turn from the true way and be 
healed by the devil. 

3. Still another fact worthy of our notice in the 
experience of Lazarus was this: Notwithstanding 
his dire circumstances and thorny pathway, he was 
favored with the grandest funeral train ever re- 
corded. Notice how it reads : ^^The beggar died, and 
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." 
No such statement is given regarding the death of 
any other saint or prophet. It is true, according to 
Deut. 34 : 5, 6, the Lord buried Moses, but concern- 
ing our friend Lazarus there is no burial mentioned 
in the text. It simply reads thus: "And it came to 
pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the 
angels into Abraham's bosom." 

[217] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



4. In order that the human family might realize 
to some extent the high premium God places on un- 
bending integrity and rock-rih'bed -fidelity in hard 
places and unfavorable circumstances, He gave this 
loyal soul not only a place in the paradise of the 
blest, but the most honorable one. ^^It is well 
known, that in the ancient feasts among the Jews, 
as well as among the Eomans, the guest did not sit 
down at the table, as is now the custom to do ; but 
lay on couches, each having a pillow at his left side, 
on which he supported his elbow; and he that sat 
next to hiniy on the right side, was said to lie in his 
bosom. Accordingly, the expression of Lazarus' 
lying in Abraham's bosom implies that he was in 

THE HIGHEST PLACE OF HONOR AND HAPPINESS." 

Header, let us not despise the humble cross nor 
the ways of providence, but joyfully accept all that 
comes our way as a blessing of inestimable value 
from the hand of a loving Father, who is too wise 
to err and too gracious to be unkind. 



[218] 



LVI 

THE HOLY ANOINTING OIL 

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto tliee sweet 
spices, staete, and onycha, and galbaniun; these sweet 
spices, with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a 
like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a con- 
fection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, 
pure and holy. And thou shalt beat some of it very small, 
and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the 
congregation, where I will meet with thee : it shall be unto 
you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt 
make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the com- 
position thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. 
Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, 
shall even be cut off from his people" (Exod. 30:34-38). 

Here we have brought to ns in symbols some of 
the most sublime, spiritual lessons to be found in 
the Bible, for the following reasons: 1. They deal 
with the most delicate points in the catalogue of 
holy living. 2. They give us such plain lessons on 
how to live in the Spirit and retain His unmitigated 
favor. 3. They deal specifically with the highest 
type of spirituality, viz., adoration^ hiessing and 
unction. 

The thought expressed in the above Scripture les- 
son is as follows : We are not to use lightly or make 
common the phrases, terms, sayings or demonstra- 
tions of the Spirit of God, which He uses through 
His children. We are not to use these golden ves- 

[219] 



IMPEESSIVE TALKS 



sels for common purposes. Hundreds of people 
grieve the Spirit at this point and live the greater 
part of their lives in a half-spiritual eclipse. In the 
following lines we shall make a feeble attempt to 
describe some of the many ways of imitating the 
holy perfume and making sacred things common. 

1. For a Christian to speak carelessly and flip- 
pantly of his style of getting blessed, viz., the way he 
shouts, the way he runs up and down the aisles, the 
way he holds up his hands, etc., is in a way making 
sacred things common. Even among publicans and 
sinners it becomes distasteful and breeds contempt 
for a person to speak too freely and frequently of 
themselves. When we speak of our blessings, gifts 
and graces, it should be done with great humility of 
mind. When the apostle Paul was writing about 
a great blessing which he had received some years 
previous, he spoke after this order : ^^I knew a man 
in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the 
body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I 
cannot tell: God knoweth;) such a one caught up to 
the third heaven. And I know such a man, (whether 
in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God 
knoweth;) How that he was caught up into para- 
dise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not 
lawful for a man to utter' (2 Cor. 12 : 2-4) . For one 
to speak in a light and flippant way of his blessings 
or demonstrations is a sure sign of either ignorance 
or carnality. 

2. It is another way of making the holy incense 
common, for even Christians to make bywords of the 

[220] 



THE HOLY ANOINTING OIL 



sacred language of the Spirit; that is, to form the 
habit of using the words ^^Hallelujah/' ^^Amen/' 
^^Glory to God/^ and 'Traise the Lord/' in ordinary 
conversation. All such terms belong to the highest 
class of worship, and should never be used unless 
prompted by the Holy Spirit. To use them other- 
wise is like a man feeding the sacramental emblems 
to the pigs, or the priest wearing his linen breeches, 
robe and mitre in the field to plow. 

3. For a person to relate in a flippant way how 
they scorched some one with truth, how they poured 
it onto them, how they reined them up, etc., is child- 
ish, besides it has a carnal jingle. 

4. Yet another way of imitating the holy per- 
fume and making angels blush and demons laugh, is 
when a minister of the gospel tries to substitute the 
holy anointing and heaven-born unction with bluster, 
guttural and violent vociferations. 

5. The act of trying to bring a meeting up to 
high tide, and to make it appear spiritual and free, 
by singing a number of light, quick time, tame re- 
ligious songs, is another way of imitating the holy 
perfume. If a meeting is dead, let it appear dead. 
Don't try to make the people believe God is blessing 
it when He is not. 

6. Another way of displeasing the blessed Spirit 
and calling forth His gentle reproof, is to talk out 
either in testimony or in general conversation, all of 
His special dealings with us. It took the writer 
some time to awake to the fact that the Spirit did 
not want him to make known to others all that He 



[221] 



IMPKESSIVE TALKS 



was showing him. Sometimes we have felt instantly 
reproved for relating a new lesson which the Spirit 
had just taught us. God gave John, when on the 
Isle of Patmos, some revelations which he was not 
to make known to others. When Paul was caught 
up into the third heaven, God showed him some 
things for his personal benefit, which he was not to 
make known to others. When Peter, James and 
John were descending the mountain where the Sa- 
vior had been transfigured. He strictly charged them 
saying, ^Tell the vision to no man, until the Son 
of man be risen again from the dead" (Matt. 17: 
9). Eemember, reader, you are not to make known 
to others everything you get from the Lord in prayer. 

7. Still another way of making the holy per- 
fume common is when a soul falls under burden 
and the workers begin pulling and dragging them 
around. We verily believe it grieves the Spirit to 
even touch them. 

8. For the person who is to lead the meeting or 
preach to tell others what he expects to talk about, 
or in any way make known the thoughts which the 
Spirit has given him for the meeting, is another way 
of making the holy incense common. The message 
of God is so sacred and should be held in such high 
esteem and holy awe that a man should be afraid 
to even tell his wife what he expects to preach 
about. There seems to be something about telling it 
before hand which takes the wind right out of one's 
sails, besides grieves God and weakens the force of 
the message. 

[222] 



THE HOLY ANOINTING OIL 



9. A final way of making sacred things common 
and affecting the holy incense is, when a minister 
uses slang and bywords in giving out the sacred 
truths of God. The good book says, ^^Only let your 
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.'' 

B. T. Eoberts says, ^^Say nothing that borders on 
buffoonery. Do not court a laugh when you should 
win a soul. Be serious. Be in earnest; and do not 
be vulgar.'^ 



THE END 



[223] 



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